Module 1 - The Universe

Question 1

totality of all matter, energy and space.

Answer 1

Universe

Question 2

is the study of how the universe begun, how it continues to exist and how it will end

Answer 2

Cosmology

Question 3

Who proposed Big Bang theory or Big Bang model

Answer 3

Georges Lemaître and Edwin Hubble

Question 4

The Big Bang refers to the very start of the whole process called the

Answer 4

Big Bang model.

Question 5

The Big Bang was NOT an

Answer 5

explosion

Question 6

The universe may have begun as an infinitely hot and dense initial _____, a point with all of space, time, matter and energy

Answer 6

singularity

Question 7

All of it then began to rapidly expand in a process known as _____

Space itself expanded faster than the speed of light.

Answer 7

inflation

Question 8

In this still hot and dense mass of the universe, pairs of ____ formed from energy, but these pairs cancelled each other back into energy ____

Answer 8

matter and antimatter (quarks and antiquarks)

(annihilation).

Question 9

The universe cooled down as it expanded. An excess of matter (electrons, protons, neutrons and other particles) somehow came to be in a highly energetic “plasma soup.” Photons (light particles) were being scattered everywhere in this “soup”. Protons and neutrons came together to form different types of nuclei by nucleosynthesis or nuclear fusion.

Answer 9

…

Question 10

The universe _____ as it expanded.

Answer 10

cooled down

Question 11

An excess of matter (electrons, protons, neutrons and other particles) somehow came to be in a highly energetic

Answer 11

plasma soup

Question 12

light particles

Answer 12

Photons

Question 13

Protons and neutrons came together to form different types of nuclei by

Answer 13

nucleosynthesis or nuclear fusion

Question 14

electrons started to bind to ionized protons and nuclei forming neutral atoms in a process called

Answer 14

recombination

Question 15

The bound particles no longer scattered photons so light and energy moved freely across space.

Answer 15

Dark age

Question 16

____ caused these atoms to collapse onto one another to form stars and galaxies and eventually, other matter.

Answer 16

Gravity

Question 17

Space also continues to

Answer 17

expand at an accelerating rate, thus increasing the distance between the matters inside it.

Question 18

Evidences of Big Bang

Answer 18

1. Red shifts
2. Cosmic microwave background
   3.There is a H to He mass ratio of 3 to 1

Question 19

distant galaxies Indicate the universe is expanding Wavelength of light waves increases Shifts to the red end of the spectrum Shows that galaxies are moving away from each other.

Answer 19

Redshifts

Question 20

the wavelength from distant galaxies becomes much redder which proves that the space between us increase

Redder wavelength = longer wavelength.
Longer wavelength = the space between us and the distant galaxy is increasing.

Answer 20

Red shifts

Question 21

microwave radiation that fills all space and is thought to represent the redshifted glow from Big Bang. Cosmic microwave background, or the energy (thermal radiation) that was left as a result of recombination.

Answer 21

Cosmic microwave background

Question 22

It’s a faint glow of light that fills the entire universe, and it’s the leftover heat from the Big Bang

That first light, called CMB, has been traveling through the universe ever since. Over billions of years, as the universe expanded, the light got stretched into microwaves, which are lower-energy waves.

It’s like a faint “echo” of the Big Bang, and scientists can detect it using special telescopes.

Answer 22

Cosmic microwave background

Question 23

When the universe expanded the first light it produced still existed, like a residual light, like an echo we hear from a loud sound

Answer 23

Cosmic microwave background

Question 24

There is a ____ in the stars and interstellar material, as predicted by the Big Bang model. Protons and neutrons would routinely combine and separate from each other due to the high energies at the time.

Answer 24

H to He mass ratio of 3 to 1

Question 25

Types of Nucleosynthesis

Answer 25

A. Primordial Nucleosynthesis or Big Bang nucleosynthesis B. Stellar Nucleosynthesis C. Super Nova Nucleosynthesis D. Radioactive decay

Question 26

Refers to the production of nuclei other than those of the lightest isotope of hydrogen (hydrogen-1, 1H, having a single proton as a nucleus) during the early phases of the Universe.

Answer 26

Primordial Nucleosynthesis or Big Bang nucleosynthesis

Question 27

is the creation of chemical elements by nuclear fusion reactions within stars. has occurred since the original creation of hydrogen, helium and lithium during the Big Bang

Answer 27

Stellar Nucleosynthesis

Question 28

is the nucleosynthesis of chemical elements in supernova explosions.

Answer 28

Supernova nucleosynthesis

Question 29

In sufficiently massive stars, the nucleosynthesis by fusion of lighter elements into heavier ones occurs during sequential hydrostatic burning processes called _____,

Answer 29

helium burning

Question 30

Using the first three letters of the Greek alphabet. Some later time, alpha particles were identified as helium-4 nuclei, beta particles were identified as electrons, and gamma rays as a form of electromagnetic radiation like x-rays except much higher in energy and even more dangerous to living systems.

Answer 30

Radioactive decay

Question 31

(High energy) helium nuclei consisting of two protons and two neutrons

Answer 31

Alpha particle

Question 32

(High energy) Electron

Answer 32

Beta particle

Question 33

Particles with the same mass as an electron but with 1 unit of positive charge

Answer 33

Positron

Question 34

nuclei of hydrogen atoms

Answer 34

Proton

Question 35

Particles with a mass approximately equal to that of a proton but with no charge

Answer 35

Neutron

Question 36

Very high-energy electron

Answer 36

gamma ray

Question 37

_____ is one process that unstable atoms can use to become more stable an atom's nucleus sheds two protons and two neutrons in a packet that scientists call an _____ Since an atom loses two protons during _____, it changes from one element to another.

Answer 37

alpha decay

Question 38

Any of three processes of radioactive disintegration by which some unstable atomic nuclei spontaneously dissipate excess energy and undergo a change of one unit of positive charge without any change in mass number.

Answer 38

Beta decay

Question 39

Usually accompanies alpha or beta decay. Gamma rays are photons and are without rest mass or charge.

Answer 39

Gamma decay

Question 40

It is an observed fact that most of the matter in the universe are the three lightest elements: These elements were present during the initial formation of the universe, with the heavier elements being later formed in massive stars.

Answer 40

hydrogen, helium, and lithium

Question 41

_____, the temperature and density of the universe were appropriate for the efficient synthesis of the light elements.

Answer 41

first three minutes

Question 42

Just as in the Sun, some of the hydrogen nuclei were underwent fusion to form heavier nuclei including helium nuclei. This was the era of

Answer 42

primordial nucleosynthesis

Question 43

We know that the universe today contains about _____ of its mass in helium

Answer 43

23%

Question 44

In fact, all the helium production in stars isn't very important compared to the production in the _____ after the Big Bang

Answer 44

first three minutes

Question 45

Big Bang nucleosynthesis produced very few nuclei of elements heavier than lithium due to a bottleneck: the absence of a stable nucleus with 8 or 5 nucleons.

Answer 45

Formation of Heavy Elements

Question 46

_____ notes that it takes 100,000 years for the carbon to burn into oxygen, 10,000 years for the oxygen to burn into silicon, and one day for the silicon to burn into iron and herald the collapse of the star.

Answer 46

Physicist Lawrence Krauss

Question 47

Astronomer _____ in the TV series "Cosmos" noted, "We are made of star-stuff." Krauss agreed, stating that "every atom in your body was once inside a star that exploded.

Answer 47

Carl Sagan