SHS- Physical Science (Formation of Heavier Elements)

I. Introductory Concept
In the previous grade level, you understood the different theories about the
origin of the universe. One of the most accepted theories on the origin of the
universe is the Big Bang Theory. In this learning packet, you will know deeper what
Big Bang Theory is and how the heavier elements formed during the Big Bang.
Knowing how the heavier elements formed due to Big Bang will help us
understand the complexity of formation of heavier elements and transmutation.
Hence, this knowledge will give us the brightness to the gray area of unknown. Do
you want to see this brightness? Read on and accomplish the tasks prepared for you
in this learning packet.

II. Learning Competencies

At the end of the learning packet, you should be able to:
✓ Give evidence for and describe the formation of heavier elements
during star formation and evolution (S11/12PS-IIIa-2)
✓ Explain how the concept of atomic number led to the synthesis of new
elements in the laboratory. (s11/12PS-IIIb-11)

III. Activities
Activity 1. WORD SEARCH
Directions: Look for the word that being described by each statement below.
Choose your answer on the box and letter of your answer in your notebook.

1. It is a remnant from an early stage of the universe also known as “relic

radiation”
2. It is the increase in distance between any two given gravitationally unbound
parts of the observable universe with time.
3. It is a form of matter thought to account for approximately 85% of the
matter in the universe and about a quarter of its total mass-energy
density or about 2.241 x 10-27 kg/m3
4. It is a form of energy that affects the universe on the largest scales.

5. It is a phenomenon where electromagnetic radiation (such as light) from an

object undergoes an increase in wavelength.

1
RO_Physical Science_ Q1_LP1
 6. During time, it was hypothesized that the four fundamental forces have the
same strength, and are possibly even unified into one fundamental
force.
7. The period after the formation of the first atoms and before the first stars.
8. During this time, the universe underwent an extremely rapid exponential
expansion.
9. The temperature of the universe falls to the point (about a billion degrees)
where atomic nuclei can begin to form as protons and neutrons
combine through nuclear fusion to form the nuclei of the simple
elements of hydrogen, helium and lithium.
10. It stated how our Sun is became a late-generation star, incorporating the
debris from many generations of earlier stars, and it and the Solar System
around it form roughly 4.5 to 5 billion years ago (8.5 to 9 billion years after
the Big Bang).

CHOICES
a. DARK MATTER f. PLANCK EPOCH
b. COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND g. INFLATIONARY EPOCH
c. DARK ENERGY h. DARK AGE
d. EXPANDING UNIVERSE i. NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
e. SOLAR SYSTEM FORMATION j. REDSHIFT

Good job in finishing the activity! Take note of the key concepts you had written.
These words might appear on the next activities.

BIG BANG THEORY

The Big Bang theory is a cosmological model of the observable universe
from the earliest known ages through its succeeding large-scale evolution. The
model describes the processing of expanding universe from an initial state of
extremely high density and high temperature, and offers a complete explanation for a
broad range of observed phenomena, including the abundance of light elements, the
cosmic microwave background (CMB) radiation, and large-scale structure.
Crucially, the theory is well-matched with Hubble's law – the thought that the farther
away galaxies are, the faster they are moving away from Earth. Extrapolating this
cosmic expansion backwards in time using the known laws of physics, the theory
describes a high density state headed by a singularity in which space and time lose
meaning. There is no evidence of any phenomena prior to the singularity. Detailed
2
RO_Physical Science_ Q1_LP1
measurements of the expansion rate of
the universe place the Big Bang at
around 13.8 billion years ago, which is
thus considered the age of the universe.
After its initial expansion, the
universe cooled appropriately to allow
the formation of subatomic particles, and
later atoms. Giant clouds of these
primordial elements – mostly 24% of the
universe’s ordinary matter is currently
comprised of helium, about 74%
hydrogen, and 2% of other elements
(relative abundance)-later merged
through gravity, forming early stars and
galaxies, the progenies of which are
visible today. Besides these primordial Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BigBang

building materials, astronomers observe the gravitational effects of an unknown dark

matter surrounding galaxies. Most of the gravitational potential in the universe
seems to be in this form, and the Big Bang theory and various observations indicate
that it is not conventional baryonic matter that forms atoms. Measurements of the
redshifts of supernovae indicate that the expansion of the universe is accelerating,
an observation attributed to dark energy's existence.
Georges Lemaître first noted in 1927 that an expanding universe could be
traced back in time to an originating single point, which he called the "primeval
atom". For several decades, the scientific community was divided between
supporters of the Big Bang and the rival steady-state model, but a wide range of
empirical evidence has strongly favored the Big Bang, which is now universally
accepted. Edwin Hubble concluded from analysis of galactic redshifts in 1929 that
galaxies are drifting apart; this is important observational evidence for an expanding
universe. In 1964, the CMB was discovered. This was a crucial evidence of the Big
Bang Theory which predicted a uniform background radiation throughout the
universe.

TIMELINE OF BIG BANG

Since the Big Bang, 13.7 billion years ago, the universe has passed through
many different phases or epochs. Due to the extreme conditions and the violence of
its very early stages, it perhaps saw more activity and change during the first second
than in all the billions of years since.
From our current understanding of how the Big Bang might have progressed,
taking into account theories about inflation, Grand Unification we can put together an
approximate timeline as follows:

3
RO_Physical Science_ Q1_LP1
 ● Planck Epoch (or Planck Era), from zero to approximately 10-43 seconds (1
Planck Time). This is also known as singularity epoch. This is the closest that
current physics can get to the absolute beginning of time, and very little can
be known about this period. General relativity proposes a gravitational
singularity before this time (although even that may break down due to
quantum effects), and it is hypothesized that the four fundamental forces
(electromagnetism, weak nuclear force, strong nuclear force and gravity) all
have the same strength, and are possibly even unified into one fundamental
force, held together by a perfect symmetry which some have likened to a
sharpened pencil standing on its point (i.e. too symmetrical to last). At this
point, the universe spans a region of only 10-35 meters (1 Planck Length), and
has a temperature of over 1032°C (the Planck Temperature).

● Grand Unification Epoch, from 10–43 seconds to 10–36 seconds:

The force of gravity separates from the other fundamental forces (which
remain unified), and the earliest elementary particles (and antiparticles) begin
to be created.

● Inflationary Epoch, from 10–36 seconds to 10–32 seconds. Triggered by the

separation of the strong nuclear force, the universe undergoes an extremely
rapid exponential expansion, known as cosmic inflation. The linear
dimensions of the early universe increases during this period of a tiny fraction
of a second by a factor of at least 1026 to around 10 centimeters (about the
size of a grapefruit). The elementary particles remaining from the Grand
Unification Epoch (a hot, dense quark-gluon plasma, sometimes known as
“quark soup”) become distributed very thinly across the universe.

● Electroweak Epoch, from 10–36 seconds to 10–12 seconds. As the strong

nuclear force separates from the other two, particle interactions create large
numbers of exotic particles, including W and Z bosons and Higgs bosons (the
Higgs field slows particles down and confers mass on them, allowing a
universe made entirely out of radiation to support things that have mass).

● Quark Epoch, from 10–12 seconds to 10–6 seconds. Quarks, electrons and
neutrinos form in large numbers as the universe cools off to below 10
quadrillion degrees, and the four fundamental forces assume their present
forms. Quarks and antiquarks annihilate each other upon contact, but, in a
process known as baryogenesis, a surplus of quarks (about one for every
billion pairs) survives, which will ultimately combine to form matter.

● Hadron Epoch, from 10–6 seconds to 1 second. The temperature of the

universe cools to about a trillion degrees, cool enough to allow quarks to
combine to form hadrons (like protons and neutrons). Electrons colliding with
protons in the extreme conditions of the Hadron Epoch fuse to form neutrons

4
RO_Physical Science_ Q1_LP1
 and give off massless neutrinos, which continue to travel freely through space
today, at or near to the speed of light. Some neutrons and neutrinos re-
combine into new proton-electron pairs. The only rules governing all this
apparently random combining and re-combining are that the overall charge
and energy (including mass-energy) be conserved.

● Lepton Epoch, from 1 second to 3 minutes. After the majority (but not all) of
hadrons and antihadrons annihilate each other at the end of the Hadron
Epoch, leptons (such as electrons) and antileptons (such as positrons)
dominate the mass of the universe. As electrons and positrons collide and
annihilate each other, energy in the form of photons is freed up, and colliding
photons in turn create more electron-positron pairs.

● Nucleosynthesis, from 3 minutes to 20 minutes. The temperature of the

universe falls to the point (about a billion degrees) where atomic nuclei can
begin to form as protons and neutrons combine through nuclear fusion to form
the nuclei of the simple elements of hydrogen, helium and lithium. After about
20 minutes, the temperature and density of the universe has fallen to the point
where nuclear fusion cannot continue.

● Photon Epoch (or Radiation Domination), from 3 minutes to 240,000 years:

During this long period of gradual cooling, the universe is filled with plasma, a
hot, opaque soup of atomic nuclei and electrons. After most of the leptons and
antileptons had annihilated each other at the end of the Lepton Epoch, the
energy of the universe is dominated by photons, which continue to interact
frequently with the charged protons, electrons and nuclei.

● Recombination/Decoupling, from 240,000 to 300,000 years. As the

temperature of the universe falls to around 3,000 degrees (about the same
heat as the surface of the Sun) and its density also continues to fall, ionized
hydrogen and helium atoms capture electrons (known as “recombination”),
thus neutralizing their electric charge. With the electrons now bound to atoms,
the universe finally becomes transparent to light, making this the earliest
epoch observable today. It also releases the photons in the universe which
have up till this time been interacting with electrons and protons in an opaque
photon-baryon fluid (known as “decoupling”), and these photons (the same
ones we see in today’s cosmic background radiation) can now travel freely.
By the end of this period, the universe consists of a fog of about 75%
hydrogen and 25% helium, with just traces of lithium.

● Dark Age (or Dark Era), from 300,000 to 150 million years. The period after
the formation of the first atoms and before the first stars is sometimes referred
to as the Dark Age. Although photons exist, the universe at this time is literally
dark, with no stars having formed to give off light. With only very diffuse

5
RO_Physical Science_ Q1_LP1
 matter remaining, activity in the universe has tailed off dramatically, with very
low energy levels and very large time scales. Little of note happens during this
period, and the universe is dominated by mysterious “dark matter”.

● Reionization, 150 million to 1 billion years. The first quasars form from
gravitational collapse, and the intense radiation they emit reionizes the
surrounding universe, the second of two major phase changes of hydrogen
gas in the universe (the first being the Recombination period). From this point
on, most of the universe goes from being neutral back to being composed of
ionized plasma.

● Star and Galaxy Formation, 300 - 500 million years onwards. Gravity
amplifies slight irregularities in the density of the primordial gas and pockets of
gas become more and more dense, even as the universe continues to expand
rapidly. These small, dense clouds of cosmic gas start to collapse under their
own gravity, becoming hot enough to trigger nuclear fusion reactions between
hydrogen atoms, creating the very first stars. The first stars are short-lived
supermassive stars, a hundred or so times the mass of our Sun, known as
Population III (or “metal-free”) stars. Eventually Population II and then
Population I stars also begin to form from the material from previous rounds of
star-making. Larger stars burn out quickly and explode in massive supernova
events, their ashes going to form subsequent generations of stars. Large
volumes of matter collapse to form galaxies and gravitational attraction pulls
galaxies towards each other to form groups, clusters and superclusters.

● Solar System Formation, 8.5 - 9 billion years. Our Sun is a late-generation

star, incorporating the debris from many generations of earlier stars, and it
and the Solar System around it form roughly 4.5 to 5 billion years ago (8.5 to
9 billion years after the Big Bang).

● Today, 13.7 billion years. The expansion of the universe and recycling of star
materials into new stars continues.

Activity 2: MYSTERY WORD

DIRECTIONS: Guess the words or phrases about alchemy and chemistry that can
be associated to the pictures being shown. Write your answer on the space provided below.
________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

6
RO_Physical Science_ Q1_LP1
 ________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

________________________________________

What are the concepts being revealed by shown pictures?

The words being shown are associated to the development and discovery of
alchemy and chemistry. Knowing these concepts is very essential in understanding
the nature of elements.

Can you also recall the development and discovery of the atom and its
subatomic parts? Bear in mind also how man’s knowledge on atoms evolved from a
mere idea to figuring out its exact structure and nature. These concepts will aid you
in understanding how new elements were synthesized by altering their atomic
numbers.
You did great in guessing the mystery words, you have now a chance to ride our
time machine. Let us together traceback some significant occurrences in the history
of Chemistry a chance to ride our time machine. Let us together traceback some
significant occurrences in the history of Chemistry.

7
RO_Physical Science_ Q1_LP1
 ALCHEMY & CHEMISTRY

Prior to the establishment of Chemistry, Alchemy was more prominent. It is an

early philosophical and spiritual field of study that combined chemistry with
metalwork. The goals of alchemy include finding the elixir of life to bring health,
wealth and eternal life; to find or make a substance called the philosopher’s
stone that would turn to gold when heated and combined with copper or iron; and
to improve human spirit by discovering the relationship of humans to the cosmos.
These ideas were integrated in Paolo Coelho’s novel entitled ‘The Alchemist’
which tells about the mystical story of a shepherd boy who travel in search of a
worldly treasure, and the anime ‘Fullmetal Alchemist’ where two alchemist brothers
look for the philosopher’s stone after a failed attempt to revive their dead mother.

8
RO_Physical Science_ Q1_LP1
 However, the roots of alchemy are difficult to trace. Some significant
occurrences in the history of alchemy and Chemistry in general can be found
below.

Traveling back through time sometimes let you understand the present.
Thanks to our time machine! Looking back is crucial to justify how things came into
being and why something is existing. Similar with looking at significant occurrences
in the field of Chemistry, we learned how the most spiritual alchemy turned into to a
more reasonable Chemistry.

In activity 2, you unpacked the mystery box which gave you an opportunity to
travel through time.
What significant discovery or occurrence did you like most? Why?

According to the timeline, in the 2nd half of the 20th century, artificial
transmutation has become prevalent.
What is transmutation? How can one element be turned into another?

Artificial transmutation involves changing the atomic number of an element

which requires nuclear reactions with massive amount of energy. For the traditional
alchemist, it may refer to conversion of one physical substance into another (ex:
base metal such as lead into valuable silver and gold). For a modern scientist, this
refers to transformation of one element into another by one or a series of nuclear
decays or reactions. Moreover, to create a transuranium elements, two nuclear
processes can be involved namely nuclear fission and nuclear fusion. A nuclear
chain reaction could include both. The elements technetium (atomic number Z = 43),
promethium (Z = 61) and the transuraniums (Z > 92) are examples of artificial
elements.

9
RO_Physical Science_ Q1_LP1
Activity 3: Transmutation
DIRECTIONS: Complete the following nuclear transmutation equation by writing
your answers on the blanks provided. The periodic table below can help you answer
the activity.

1. 714𝑁 + 24𝛼 → _____ + 11𝑝

2. 2656𝐹𝑒 + 12𝐻 → 24𝛼 + _____

3. _____+ 01𝑛 → 13𝐻 + 24𝛼

4. 1327𝐴𝑙 + 24𝛼 → _____ + 01𝑛

5. 94239𝑃𝑢 +_____ → 95240𝐴𝑚+ −10𝛽

Have you completed the equations by following the examples?

What have you noticed from the equations? Can you describe them?

You can use the periodic table to help you explain and describe the equations.

Source: Ebbing- Gammon’s General Chemistry 11th Edition, (2017). p.686.

10
RO_Physical Science_ Q1_LP1
 All the elements listed on the periodic table are made up of atoms, the
smallest particle of an element that retains the characteristics of that element.
Atoms are composed of nucleus (which contains the protons and neutrons)
surrounded by moving electrons. All atoms of the same element have the same
number of protons and electrons. However, the atoms of any one element are not
entirely identical because the atoms of most elements have different numbers of
neutrons. When a sample of an element consists of two or more atoms with
different numbers of neutrons, those atoms are called isotopes. To distinguish
between the different isotopes of an element, and to determine the element’s
number of protons, neutrons and electrons, we use nuclear notation as shown
below:

Some isotopes are stable, and others are unstable (called

radioisotopes), which can emit, or kick out, subatomic particles to reach a more
stable, lower-energy, configuration. The process in which they release particles
and energy is known as decay. Radioactive decay can cause a change in the
number of protons in the nucleus; when this happens, the identity of the atom
changes. There are 6 types of radioactive decay as shown in the table:

Source: Ebbing- Gammon’s General Chemistry 11th Edition, (2017). p.686.

11
RO_Physical Science_ Q1_LP1
 In a process called radioactive decay, a nucleus spontaneously breaks down by
emitting radiation. The process can be written as a nuclear equation:

88226𝑅𝑎 → 86222𝑅𝑛 + 24𝐻𝑒

The radioactive decay of radium-226 by alpha decay to give radon-222.

A radium-226 nucleus emits one alpha particle, leaving behind a radon-222
nucleus.

The aforementioned nuclear reactions are mostly radioactive decay in

which an alpha or beta particles are emitted during the spontaneous decay of the
nucleus. Here now comes Ernest Rutherford who discovered in 1919 that it is
possible to change the nucleus of one element to another. Such process can be
controlled in the laboratory and is termed as transmutation, where a new element
is formed by bombarding the nucleus with nuclear particles or nuclei. In
Rutherford’s experiment, he allowed a radioactive element (source of alpha
particle) collide with nitrogen nuclei. The equation is:
714𝑁 + 24𝐻𝑒 → 817𝑂 + 11𝐻

Nitrogen can be transformed into oxygen by bombarding an alpha particle into the
nucleus of nitrogen.
An atom of hydrogen is produced as part of the transformation.

Nowadays, particle accelerators are used to synthesize new elements.

This device accelerates electrons, protons, alpha particles and other ions into very
high speeds. Thus, producing the so called transuranium elements with atomic
numbers greater than that of Uranium (Z=92) – the naturally occurring element of
greatest atomic number (Z). The first transuranium element was discovered by
E.M. McMillan and P.H. Abelson in 1940 at university of California, Berkeley and
was named Neptonium:

92238𝑈 + 01𝑛 → 92239𝑈

92238𝑈 → 93238𝑁𝑝 + −10𝑒

Uranium-238 was bombarded by neutron. This gave U-239 by the capture of a

neutron, and in few days, this decayed by beta emission to Neptonium-239.

Since then 24 other transuranium elements were synthesized. All the

isotopes of these elements are radioactive. Some examples of transuranium
elements, their atomic numbers, symbol and the reactions through which they are
formed are shown in the table below

12
RO_Physical Science_ Q1_LP1
Source: Raymond Chang and Jason Overby’s General Chemistry: The Essential Concepts 6 th Edition, (2011).

These transuranium isotopes have several uses or applications. Some of

which include the following:

● generation of electricity in nuclear power plants

● produced thermal power for space exploration
● fuel to generate nuclear power and weapons
● medical therapy and diagnosis
● chemical analysis
● radioactive dating

Activity 4: Helping Archie

Directions: Help Alchie the alchemist to solve his problem by writing the balanced
equation given the situation and answering the question asked.
1. Alchie’s long-cherished dream was to produce gold from cheaper and more
abundant elements. He found out that 80198𝐻𝑔 can be converted to gold by
neutron bombardment. Write the balanced equation for this reaction.
2. Alchie also bombarded iron-56 with a deuterium nucleus. He produced
_______ plus an alpha particle. Write also the equation for this reaction.
3. There are different sources of energy here on Earth. Examples are fossil
fuels, hydroelectric, geothermal, gravitational, nuclear fusion and fission, wind
and solar. Which of these have a ‘nuclear origin either directly or indirectly?

13
RO_Physical Science_ Q1_LP1
IV. Reflection
Let me know how much you have learned from this lesson by writing your
feedback below.
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

V. References
Big Bang. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/BigBang. Accessed July 20,
2020

Chang, Raymond & Overby, Jason (2011). General Chemistry: The Essential
Concepts. 6th Edition. McGraw Hill, New York.
McGraw Hill (2009) Conceptual Introduction to Physics, 6th ed. NY.

Dejos, Janine Hyacinth M. Physical Science (2020). Retrieved from

http://physicalsciencecore.blogspot.com/2016/11/module-2-how-idea-of-
atoms-along-with.html.

Ebbing, Darrell D. & Gammon, Steven D. (2008). General Chemistry. 11th Edition.
Cengage Learning, 20 Channel Center Street Boston, USA.
From Alchemy to Chemistry (2020). Retrieved from
https://www.khanacademy.org/partner-content/big-history-project/stars-
and-elements/other-material3/a/from-alchemy-to-chemistry.
Fullmetal Alchemist (2017). Retrieved from https://www.imdb.com/title/tt5607028/.

Griffith, W. Thomas and Juliet Wain Brosing. (2016) The Physics of Everyday
Phenomena: A Commission on Higher Education. Teaching Guide for
Senior High School Physical Science.
Hewitt, Paul G. (2015). Conceptual Physics 11th edition. San Francisco: Pearson.
Isotope (2015). Retrieved from https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-
planetary-sciences/isotope.
March, Robert . (2003) Physics for Poets, 5th ed. NY.
Naylor, John. (2002) Out of the Blue: A 24-hour Skywatcher's Guide. England:
Cambridge University Press.
Nuclear Notation. Retrieved from http://hyperphysics.phy-
astr.gsu.edu/hbase/Nuclear/nucnot.html.

14
RO_Physical Science_ Q1_LP1
Nuclear Worksheet. Retrieved form
https://www.allhallows.org/ourpages/auto/2017/5/23/43925289/nuclear%2
0practice%20test.pdf.
Pasachoff, Jay and Alex Filipenko. The Cosmos: Astronomy in the New Millenium.
California.

Physical Science-Senior High School, Quarter 1: Week 1, Module 1, Formation of

Heavier Elements during Star Formation and Evolution, DepEd ROV
Physical Science-Senior High School, Quarter 1: Week 2, Module 2, Transmutation,
DepEd ROV
Practical Applications of Transuranium Isotopes. retrieved from
https://www.britannica.com/science/transuranium-element/Practical-
applications-of-transuranium-isotopes.
Shipman, James T., Jerry D. Wilson, and Charles A. (2013) Higgins. An Introduction
to Physical Science. Singapore: Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd.

Spielberg, Nathan and Bryon D. Anderson. (1995). Seven Ideas that Shook the
Universe, 2nd ed. New Jersey: John Wiley & Sons.
The Alchemist Synopsis (2020). Retrieved from
https://www.kobo.com/ph/en/ebook/the-alchemist-38.
Timberlake, Karen C. Chemistry: An introduction to General, Organic and Biological
Chemistry (2015). Pearson Education, Inc., USA.
Transmutation. Retrieved from https://www.britannica.com/science/transmutation.
Atomic Number, Atomic Mass and Isotopes. Retrieved from
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/chemistry--of-life/elements-
and-atoms/a/atomic-number-atomic-mass-and-isotopes-article.

15
RO_Physical Science_ Q1_LP1
 SDO Ligao City Development Team

Writers:

ROMMEL CARL PERALTA, Ligao National High School

KRISTINA N. NIEVES, Bicol Regional Science High School

Language Editor:

MARYLOU V. ARGAMOSA,1 Palapas Elementary School

Content Editors:

BEBELYN NOCOMORA, Ligao National High School

MARISSA O. CO, Ligao National High School

JOCELYN P. NAVERA, Education Program Supervisor

Layout Artist:

KENNETH M. DE LA FUENTE, Deogracias P. Princesa Memorial High School

Quality Assured by:

JOSE ROY S. AGUILAR, Head Teacher VI (Catanduanes National High School)

MA. CLAUDETTE C. BORREGA, Master Teacher II (Catanduanes National High School)

16
RO_Physical Science_ Q1_LP1