Quiz 8

Question 1

If the universe is expanding now then things must have been closer to each other in the past. If we imagine running time backwards then the galaxies would be moving towards each other instead of away. If we allowed time to continue to run backwards then eventually all the galaxies will be together. That event where all the material in the universe was together is called:

Answer 1

The Big Bang.

Question 2

The age of the universe is thought to be approximately:

Answer 2

13.7 billion years.

Question 3

What are the three possible shapes for the geometry of the universe?

Answer 3

• Open
• Closed
• Flat

Question 4

In 1953, University of Chicago researchers, Stanley Miller and Harold Urey took simple chemicals (thought to be present in on Earth when it first formed) like water, methane, ammonia and carbon dioxide, and placed then into a sterile closed glass tube. They then created sparks in the tube and shined ultraviolet light into the tube to power chemical reactions. The results of this experiment, which have been duplicated many times, were:

Answer 4

That simple chemicals, all on their own, combined to form amino acids, which are the chemical building blocks of most life on Earth that we understand. But never yet life itself.

Question 5

One of the features of the universes that the standard Big Bang Model cannot explain well is referred to as the flatness problem. The name comes from the conclusion that the overall geometry of the universe is flat since the density of the universe is so near to critical density. Why is this a problem for astrophysicists?

Answer 5

Because if the current density was a random value it would be very unlikely to be that only one specific value that would put the universe on a knife edge balance between an open or closed condition.

Question 6

Assume that the universe is open and two lasers and placed parallel to each other. As the laser beams travel the space between the beams will:

Answer 6

Get larger.