Big Bang and Decay

Imagine you were Georges Lemaître. Summarize your proof of the Big Bang theory.

Which description is considered most accurate regarding what actually happened during the Big Bang?

• Two galaxies collided causing an immense explosion as stars crashed into one another

• All of what would become the universe was concentrated in a single small point, or singularity, which rapidly expanded into what is now stars, planets, galaxies, matter, and energy.

• All matter emerged from a massive black hole at the center of the universe.

• Parts of the sun were ripped off by massive internal explosions and were thrown into space where they cooled to become other things, like plants, comets, and other galaxies.

According to the Big Bang theory, how was the universe before the Big Bang?

• Cold and spread out

• Very hot and dense

• Completely empty

• Infinite in size

What does the BBT hypothesize about the size of the early universe?

• The universe used to be much much larger than it is today.

• The universe used to be a tiny speck of super-dense matter.

• The universe has always been the same size

What is the name of the scientific theory that explains how the universe was created?

• The Balloon Theory

• The Big Bang Theory

• The Small Bang Theory

Most scientists believe the Big Bang Theory explains which of the following questions?

• How our planets and moons formed

• How our universe began

• How the sun turns hydrogen into helium

• How fast light travels through space

How long ago did the Big Bang occur?

• about 14 billion years ago

• about 13.7 trillion years ago

• about 14 million years ago

• about 1 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 000 years ago

All the stars we observe from Earth emit light that is shifted, to varying degrees, to longer wavelengths. This evidence is used to support the Big Bang Theory because it shows that stars we observe -

• are all older than our Sun.

• are made up of helium gas.

• use nuclear fusion to make light.

• are moving away from us.

Which discovery does NOT support the Big Bang Theory?

• distant objects are quasars
• blue shift of distant galaxies
• red shift of distant galaxies
• cosmic background radiation

You find a rock sample with radioactive atoms present.  If 25% of the original radioactive atoms were present, how many half-lives has the rock been around for? (Hint, at Half-Life = 0, you start with 100%)

• zero
• 1
• 2
• 3