The creation of the Universe|
Where did we come from?
There are many theories concerning this question. Many which are from
various religions as well as scientific theories. Three of the main/common scientific theories are being explained in this website:
There are many theories concerning this question. Many which are from
various religions as well as scientific theories. Three of the main/common scientific theories are being explained in this website:
- The Big Bang
- Steady State
- Creationism
The Big Bang Theory
The Big Bang theory is one of the most popular scientific theories of how our Universe was created. The theory states that approximately 13.7 billion years ago, the whole Universe was contained in a single, very hot and dense point called the 'singularity'.
No one has an idea of where the singularity came from, yet it is believed that singularities are thought to exist in a core of a black hole. Though this has not been proved as our understanding is insufficient.
The singularity started to expand and cool, suddenly becoming the Universe we see today. The Universe is said to still be expanding and cooling.
Proposer: Georges Lemaitre
Supporters: Albert Einstein (Theory of Relativity), Edwin Hubble (Red Shift), Arno Penzias (CBMR) and Robert Wilson (CBMR)
Evidence: There are two main points of evidence for the theory of the Big Bang.
Cosmic Background Radiation (CBMR)-
Cosmic Background Radiation is the left over radiation from the Big Bang. During the conversion of energy, parts of energy has not been converted to matter therefore leaving behind traces of radiation. It was said that the during the Big Bang, there were to be leftover atoms such as electrons, protons , neutrons etc. The same particles can be seen today.
Doppler Effect- The Doppler Effect is simply the same as the Red Shift except with sound. The Doppler Effect states that when sound is closer to something, it takes a short time of travel to get to it (shorter wavelength). Now when sound is going farther away, it has a longer way to travel to something and has a longer wavelength.
Red Shift- Our eyes can see a range of spectrum of lights (Image 1). This spectrum contains the colours blue, red, green, orange, yellow etc. Red Shift is when the spectrum of a galaxies lights is shifted toward longer wavelength (the red part of the spectrum)- this is because the galaxies are moving away from us. This increase in wavelength happens because of the expansion of space. When light reaches closer to our eye, light travels a shorter way and compacts in wavelengths moving into the blue spectrum. Otherwise, while light is travelling farther away from us, it takes longer to get to our eye and stretches into longer wavelength into the red spectrum.
The Doppler effect is relative to the Red Shift except with sound. Here is an example, when a car goes closer to you, the sound travels shorter wavelength towards your ear. As it goes farther away from you, the sound must travel a longer distance to your ear therefore it has longer wavelength.
With the Red Shift it is exactly the same. When a galaxy is closer toward you its light has a shorter length to travel, and therefore has shorter wavelength.
The Hubble constant
Edwin Hubble, a famous scientist, found out that galaxies farther away from us are moving farther at high speeds in proportion to their distance.
Hubble's discovery was that because this factor was proportional to distance light traveled - it means that the universe was not as big as it is now... The universe has been expanding.
Hubble was able to measure the velocity of which a Universe is travelling as well as the distance a galaxy is from our galaxy. As he plotted the points on the graph it displayed that the measurements were in proportion. Galaxies were also shown to be moving away from ours. (Image 2
So how does this proof support this theory?
Proof of Radiation:
The proof of Cosmic Background Radiation supports this theory. This theory predicts that such an event happened and that radiation would be left over from the so called 'Big Bang'. This same radiation can be found today.
Proof of Expansion:
The proof of the Red Shift supports this theory. This theory predicts that the Universe is expanding. The galaxies lights show that galaxies are moving away from us. If galaxies are moving away, it must mean that the Universe is expanding and creating more space from one single point, the singularity of the Big Bang.
The Doppler Effect supports this theory. Similar to the Red Shift, it displays that the Universe is indeed expanding. Sound is travelling longer and longer wavelengths because it is going farther away from us. (Showing the expansion of the universe)
Hubble's constant supports this by showing that the Universe is expanding and that galaxies are actually moving.
The Hubble Constant diagram:
The proportion of distance to speeds is shown in this diagram.
This diagram shows that galaxies are moving farther and farther away from us - displaying possible proof of the expansion of the Universe.
The Steady State theory
The Steady State theory is one of many theories for the Origin of our Universe. This theory has a very simple explanation, that is that the Universe stays the same which is why it is called a 'steady' state theory.
Edwin Hubble found evidence that the Universe was in fact expanding. People who supported the Steady State explained that the Universe continues to expand, though new matter is being created to balance the density in the Universe. An example is a box. Pretend there is a box which is the Universe and inside is a circle which represented the matter in the Universe. If the box expanded, to balance the density creation of more circles would have to be done.
Steady State was chosen to be a better theory than the Big Bang until new evidence was found in the recent years. This theory has been disowned by many cosmologists when the discovery of Cosmic Background Radiation (the left over radiation from the Big Bang) evidence which helped support the Big Bang theory.
Proposer: Hermann Bondi, Thomas Gold, and Sir Fred Hoyle
Supporters: N/A
Evidence: N/A
Creationism Theory
This theory is what creationists believe. This theory states that a more advanced. supernatural being commonly known as 'God', is our creator. The theory states that God created the Universe in seven days. Creationists dispute the argument that scientists have about the Origin of the Universe as they believe that this theory is more plausible.
Evidence:
Creationism supporters provide the Bible as their main source of evidence. In the first parts of Genesis, the Bible states that all creation - humans, animals, organisms, everything! - was created by God in seven days.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty,darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Genesis 1:1-2 - Extract from the Bible
Evidence:
Creationism supporters provide the Bible as their main source of evidence. In the first parts of Genesis, the Bible states that all creation - humans, animals, organisms, everything! - was created by God in seven days.
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty,darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
Genesis 1:1-2 - Extract from the Bible
Short Explanations
Here is one short video to explain the Big Bang Theory.
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