PHYSICAL SCIENCE

LESSON 1
ORIGIN OF THE LIGHT ELEMENTS
1. Give evidence for and explain the
formation of the light elements
in the Big Bang theory
 How do elements form?
What is big bang model?
How do elements undergo
nucleosysthesis?
Let’s find out
more!
 DIRECTIONS
In a few moments, we will watch a video that
explains the concept of big bang model. To
prepare we will first review key terms as a
class.
Big bang Model: Video
 THINK-PAIR-SHARE
Based on the video you have watch, give 3
important events in the big bang model?
Let’s dig deeper!
Key points, Illustration of expansion,
Nucleosynthesis reactions, and Proofs of the
Big Bang Model

a. The universe may have begun as an infinitely

hot and dense initial singularity, a point with
all of space, time, matter and energy. This
means that there was no where, when or what.
There is no space around the singularity – just
nothingness.
b. All of it then began to rapidly expand in a process known as
inflation. Space itself expanded faster than the speed of
light. In this still hot and dense mass of the universe, pairs of
matter and antimatter (quarks and antiquarks) were
formed from energy, but these pairs cancelled each other
back into energy (annihilation).
c. 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.
d. Much later on, electrons started to bind to ionized
protons and nuclei forming neutral atoms in a
process called recombination. The bound
particles no longer scattered photons so light and
energy moved freely across space. The period was
hence known as the “dark ages”.
e. Gravity caused these atoms to collapse onto one
another to form stars and galaxies and eventually,
other matter. This still happens until today. Space
also continues to expand at an accelerating rate, thus
increasing the distance between the matters inside
it.
 Let’s Investigate!
Conduct a group activity that attempts to
model cosmic inflation.
 Directions:
Have learners provide the following:
• Balloons
• Balloon pump (optional)
• Marker
Instructions:
a. Draw 15 small dots randomly on the surface of the uninflated balloon.
b. Quickly inflate the balloon with a pump or your breath. Observe the
small dots.
c. Answer the following questions:
• Why do the dots appear to be moving away from each other?
• Are the dots moving across the balloon?
• Do the dots themselves grow in size?
 Discussions
 Different instruments can enable us to detect the
light of other galaxies. This light is found to be
redshifted (the light looks “stretched”). This
suggests that other galaxies are moving farther away
from ours. It was later determined that they are not
moving away. Instead, space itself is expanding in all
directions causing all the galaxies to be relatively
farther apart. From this “redshift” we learn how fast
the universe is expanding. Redshift is the first piece
of evidence for the Big Bang model.
Formation of Light Elements: Video
What is nucleosynthesis?
Free protons and neutrons combine and separate due
to high energy to form nuclei.

Sample nucleosynthesis:

Rapid cooling due to expansion, nucleosynthesis ground to a halt about

three minutes after the Big Bang occurred. This left us with mostly H
isotopes (p, D and T), He isotopes and a very tiny bit of other elements
like Li. The relative abundance of He and H did not change much until
today.
Relative abundance of light elements in the universe
is the second piece of evidence to prove that the Big
Bang occurred. Through measurements, we find that
around 24% of the universe’s ordinary matter is
currently comprised of helium, about 74%
hydrogen, and 2% of other elements. These figures
only make sense if nucleosynthesis in the Big Bang
model actually occurred since no chemical process
significantly changes these percentages
Let’s evaluate the
lesson!
Answer the following:
Additional activity
Fill in the nine gaps in this table
Element
symbol
B
Protons
9
Neutrons
10
Electrons
18
Mass number
11 40
Additional activity
Fill in the nine gaps in this table
Element
symbol
Ga
Protons
15
Neutrons
39 20
Electrons
17
Mass number
31