PHYSICAL SCIENCE - Physics and Chemistry
- the study of (non living) matter and The Big Bang Theory is the leading explanation about how
energy
MATTER- the “stuff” that everything is made of
SCIENCE- a process of gathering knowledge about the
natural world.
- its start with asking a questions
- involves problem solving
CHEMISTRY - a matter of reaction
- the study of all forms of matter, including how
matter interacts to other matter
- structures and properties of matters
- how substances changes (chemical reactions)
PHYSICS - the way energy affects matter
- motion, force, electricity, light and heat
PHYSICAL SCIENCE - All Around You
METEOROLOGY - study of atmosphere, pressure, motion ,
force
GEOLOGY - (GEOLOGIST- rocks, soil)
BIOLOGY - chemical reactions, transfer of energy
Lesson 1: Origin of the Elements
The naturalistic story of the solar system goes
back 4.5 billion years. In this view the solar system began as
a cloud of dust and gas that collapsed on itself. A star began
to form as the cloud was compressed by some unknown
force. As the star spun and collected more mass, a disk of
dust began to form the planets.
Over millions of years the young solar system was
formed. Much debris was left over from the process and is
present today as asteroids and large belts and clouds of
material. There was no intervention by a Creator, as the
physical laws of the universe are adequate to explain
everything—or so say the evolutionists.
The Bible reveals a much different story, and there
are many problems with the models and hypotheses that are
used to support the story described above. Artists’ depictions
of the events make them look real, but they are just a story to
explain why God is not necessary. Among the problems are a
slowly spinning sun, the moon’s closeness to the earth, and a
“chicken-and-egg” problem with star formation. The
differences between what the Bible teaches and what the
evolutionary perspective teaches are many and significant. It
is impossible to reconcile the two explanations without
twisting Scripture or rewriting the history revealed in Genesis.
Listed below are the most common theories about
how the elements originated.
Divine Theory
God’s creation of the earth is found in Genesis chapters 1
and 2 and consists of the following seven days of creation.
(Before creation...)
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. The
earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the
face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the
face of the waters"
(Genesis 1:1-2).
Days of creation list
 Day 1: Light
 Day 2: Atmosphere / Firmament
 Day 3: Dry ground & plants
 Day 4: Sun, moon & stars
 Day 5: Birds & sea animals
 Day 6: Land animals & humans
 Day 7: The Sabbath of rest
Big Bang Theory
the universe began. At its simplest, it says the universe as we
know it started with a small singularity, then inflated over the
next 13.8 billion years to the cosmos that we know today.
Nebular Theory
Currently the best theory is the Nebular Theory . This states
that the solar system developed out of an interstellar cloud of
dust and gas, called a nebula . This theory best accounts for
the objects we currently find in the Solar System and the
distribution of these objects.
The Nebular Theory would have started with a cloud of gas
and dust, most likely left over from a previous supernova. The
nebula started to collapse and condense; this collapsing
process continued for some time. The Sun-to-be collected
most of the mass in the nebula’s center, forming a Protostar .
Atomic Theory
In chemistry and physics, atomic theory is a scientific theory
of the nature of matter, which states that matter is composed
of discrete units called atoms. It began as a philosophical
concept in ancient Greece and entered the scientific
mainstream in the early 19th century when discoveries in the
field of chemistry showed that matter did indeed behave as if
it were made up of atoms.
LESSON 2:Big Bang Theory And The Formation Of The
Light Elements
Cosmology is defined as the study of how the
universe began, how it continues to exist, and how it will end.
From the previous module we have discussed different
theories about it. Aside from those common concepts we still
have a lot of cosmologies from different religion and culture
based on our personal beliefs.
Science brings forth a cosmological theory, not from
belief, but from scientific evidence that the universe once
began to expand and continues to expand until today. This
theory was eventually called the Big Bang theory or Big Bang
model. Astronomers George Lemaître and Edwin Hubble
were some of its first proponents. Mention that George
Lemaître was a Catholic priest. He did not find his theory (or
science as a whole) incompatible with his religion.
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.
There are several limitations and misconceptions
associated with discussing the Big Bang Theory. Keep in
mind the following:
The Big Bang refers to the very start of the whole process
called the Big Bang model.
The Big Bang was NOT an explosion that carried matter
outward from a point. It refers to the rapid inflation of space
itself.
The theory does not explain what caused it or
where the singularity came from, BUT the Big Bang
model does not need a cause to be a valid theory. It
simply needs to show that observations and evidence validate
its assumptions. The model is a work in progress that we are
still finding evidence for until now.
Here are the key features and limitations of the
demonstration:
• Similar to the Big Bang, a balloon expands very rapidly at
the start, then more slowly when it has already inflated. But
some evidence shows that the expansion is now accelerating
again
• The balloon is the universe and space itself.
Using different instruments can 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.
The diagram below shows the most significant reactions that
occurred.
Due to the 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.
• These are not the only reactions that occurred but these
were the most significant
. • Given the (a, b) format in the diagram, it is a that reacts
with the particle while it is b that is produced or removed. γ is
the symbol for gamma radiation
. • We may use accounting approach to count. Place the
number of each particle on each side and balance like a
money sheet: e.g. 3He + D 4He + p+
The 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.
Third part of evidence for the Big Bang model:
cosmic microwave background, or the energy (thermal
radiation) that was left as a result of recombination.
Atoms became neutral due to the binding of nuclei and
electrons. The remaining radiation then began to scatter. This
is seen by scientists as a faint microwave glow not emitted by
any object in space
IN THE BEGINNING (Big Bang Theory and Formation of
the Light Elements)
PHYSICAL SCIENCE - It is a branch of natural
science that studies non-living systems, in contrast to life
science. It in turn has many branches, each referred to as a
"physical science", together called the "physical sciences".
1. Cosmology
2. Big Bang theory/Big Bang model
3. Nucleosynthesis
4. Singularity
5. Inflation
6. Annihilation
7. Recombination
8. Redshift
9. Relative abundance
10. Cosmic microwave background
Cosmology - is a branch of astronomy that involves
the origin and evolution of the universe, from the Big Bang to
today and on into the future.
3 Cosmic Stages through which specific groups of
elements were formed
1. Big bang nucleosynthesis formed the light
elements (H, He, and Li).
2. Stellar formation and evolution formed the
elements heavier than Be to Fe.
3. Stellar explosion , or supernova, formed the
elements heavier than Fe.
Big Bang Theory - explains how the elements were
initially formed the formation of different elements involved
many nuclear reactions, including fusion, fission and
radioactive decay
- explains how the elements were initially formed the
formation of different elements involved many nuclear
reactions, including fusion, fission and radioactive decay
Stages of the Big Bang Theory
Singularity - a point in space and/or a moment in
time where the universe was infinitely hot and dense
Inflation -is a theory of exponential expansion of
space in the early universe. The inflationary epoch lasted
from 10−36 seconds
 Nucleosynthesis - is the process that creates new
atomic nuclei from pre-existing nucleons, primarily protons
and neutrons.
- as the universe cools, protons and neutrons,
can fuse to form heavier atomic nuclei
Recombination- refers to the epoch at which
charged electrons and protons first became bound to form
electrically neutral hydrogen atoms.
Annihilation -in physics, reaction in which a particle
and its antiparticle collide and disappear, releasing energy.
Redshift - the displacement of spectral lines toward
longer wavelengths (the red end of the spectrum) in radiation
from distant galaxies and celestial objects.
Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB)- is
electromagnetic radiation left over from an early stage of the
universe in Big Bang cosmology.
Atom- are the smallest unit of matter that have all the
properties of an element. They composed of smaller
subatomic particles as protons, neutrons, and electrons.
Atomic Number (Z)- indicates the number of protons
in an atom. In a neutral atom, number of protons is equal to
the number of electrons.
Atomic Mass (A) -is equal to the sum of the number
of protons and neutrons.
Isotopes - refer to atoms with the same atomic
number but different atomic masses.
Ions -which are positively or negatively charged
particles, have the same number of protons in different
number of electrons.
Lesson 3: The Atomic Number and the Synthesis of
New Elements
Dmitri Mendeleev, father of the periodic table,
created a classification of elements based on their atomic
weight. He found that organizing the elements at the time by
their calculated weight demonstrated a periodic pattern of
both physical and chemical properties, such as luster,
physical state, reactivity to water, and others.
Henry Moseley was a researcher at Rutherford’s
laboratory. In 1913 Moseley used Rutherford’s work to
advance the understanding of the elements and solve the
problem with Mendeleev’s periodic table.
Moseley’s X-ray Spectroscopy
Henry Gwyn-Jeffreys Moseley was an English
physicist who demonstrated that the atomic number, the
number of protons in an atom, determines most of the
properties of an element. He began his study of radioactivity
in Ernest Rutherford’s laboratory but later decided to explore
more on X-rays.
In 1913, Moseley published a paper on the
arrangement of the elements in the Periodic table based on
their atomic numbers. He used X-ray spectroscopy to
determine the atomic number of an element. He bombarded a
beam of electrons to different elements and measured their
X-ray spectral lines. His results clearly showed that frequency
of the X-rays given off by an element was mathematically
related to the position of that element in the Periodic table.
The frequency is proportional to the charge of the nucleus, or
the atomic number.
When the elements were arranged according to their
atomic numbers, there were four gaps in the table. These
gaps corresponded to the atomic numbers 43, 61, 85, and 87.
These elements were later synthesized in the laboratory
through nuclear transmutations.
Discovery of Nuclear Transmutation
In 1919, Ernest Rutherford successfully carried out a
nuclear transmutation reaction — a reaction involving the
transformation of one element or isotope into another
element. He bombarded alpha particles from radium directed
to the nitrogen nuclei. He showed that the nitrogen nuclei
reacted to the alpha particles to form oxygen nuclei.
The reaction is written as
147 N+ 42He → 178O + 11H 714N + 24He → 817O + 11H
However, both alpha particles and atomic nuclei are
positively charged, so they tend to repel each other.
Therefore, instead of using fast-moving alpha particles in
synthesizing new elements, atomic nuclei are often
bombarded with neutrons (neutral particles) in particle
accelerators.
The Discovery of the Missing Elements
Recall that in 1925, there were four vacancies in the
periodic table corresponding to the atomic numbers 43, 61,
85, and 87. Two of these elements were synthesized in the
laboratory using particle accelerators.
A particle accelerator is a device that is used to
speed up the protons to overcome the repulsion between the
protons and the target atomic nuclei by using magnetic and
electrical fields. It is used to synthesize new elements.
In 1937, American physicist Ernest
Lawrence synthesized element with atomic number 43 using
a linear particle accelerator. He bombarded molybdenum
(Z=42) with fast-moving neutrons. The newly synthesized
element was named Technetium (Tc) after the Greek word
"technêtos" meaning “artificial.” Tc was the first man-made
element.
In 1940, Dale Corson, K. Mackenzie, and Emilio
Segre discovered element with atomic number 85. They
bombarded atoms of bismuth (Z=83) with fast-moving alpha
particles in a cyclotron. A cyclotron is a particle accelerator
that uses alternating electric field to accelerate particles that
move in a spiral path in the presence of a magnetic field.
Element-85 was named astatine from the Greek word
“astatos” meaning unstable.The two other elements with
atomic numbers 61 and 87 were discovered through studies
in radioactivity. Element-61 (Promethium) was discovered 2) The geometrical shape of the molecule which can be
as a decay product of the fission of uranium while element-87 predicted via the valence shell electron pair repulsion
(Francium) was discovered as a breakdown product of (VSEPR) theory
uranium.

Synthesis of New Elements

In the 1930s, the heaviest element known Bond Polarity

was uranium, with an atomic number 92. Early in
1940, Edwin McMillan proved that an element having an
atomic number 93 could be created. He used a particle
accelerator to bombard uranium with neutrons and created an
element with an atomic number 93 which he named
neptunium.
At the end of 1940, element-94 was synthesized
by Seaborg, McMillan, Kennedy, and Wahl. They
bombarded uranium with deuterons (particles composed of a
proton and a neutron) in a cyclotron. Element-94 was named
plutonium.
Electronegativity (EN) - Measure of the relative
tendency of an atom to attract electrons to itself when
chemically combined with another atom. The higher the value
of electronegativity, the more it tends to attract electrons
toward itself. The polarity of the compounds can be
determined using the given scale below.
Ionic Bond - are formed between metal and unmetal due to
large difference in their electronegativities
Polarity - Difference between electronegativity

Elements with atomic numbers greater than 92 Ionic EN ≥ 1.7

(atomic number of uranium) are called transuranium
elements. Hence, neptunium and plutonium are both Polar Covalent 1.7 > EN > 0.4
transuranium elements. They are unstable and decay
radioactively into other elements. All of these elements were Non-Polar Covalent EN ≤ 0.4
discovered in the laboratory as artificially generated synthetic
elements. They are prepared using nuclear reactors or Polar covalent bonds occur when electron pairs are
particle accelerators. In the next lesson, you will learn the unequally shared. The difference in electronegativity between
nuclear reactions involved in the synthesis of these atoms is significant. Examples of compounds having polar
transuranium elements. covalent bonds are:

KEY POINTS HCl EN of H = 2.1 EN of Cl = 3.0 ΔEN = 0.9

The atomic number is the number of protons
(positively charged particles) in an atom.
Henry Gwyn-Jeffreys Moseley was an English
physicist who demonstrated that the atomic number, the
number of protons in an atom, determines most of the
properties of an element.
In 1919, Ernest Rutherford successfully carried out
a nuclear transmutation reaction — a process of transforming
one element or isotope into another element.
In 1925, there were four vacancies in the periodic table
corresponding to the atomic numbers 43, 61, 85, and 87.
Elements with atomic numbers 43 and 85 were synthesized
using particle accelerators.
HF EN of H = 2.1 EN of F = 4.0 ΔEN = 1.9
The separation of charges makes the bond polar. It
creates an electric dipole. Dipole refers to “two poles,”
meaning there is a positive and a negative pole within a
molecule. Elements with the higher EN value become the
partial negative pole while elements with the lower EN value
become the partial positive pole. This makes the molecule a
polar molecule
Non-polar covalent bonds occur when electron
pairs are shared equally or the difference in electronegativity
between atoms is less than 0.5. Examples of substances
having non-polar covalent bonds are:
H2 EN of H = 2.1 ΔEN = 0.0 NON-POLAR MOLECULE; not
a dipole

A particle accelerator is a device that is used to Cl2 EN of Cl = 3.0 ΔEN = 0.0 NON-POLAR MOLECULE;
speed up the protons to overcome the repulsion between the not a dipole
protons and the target atomic nuclei by using magnetic and
electrical fields. It is used to synthesize new elements. F2 EN of F = 4.0 ΔEN = 0.0 NON-POLAR MOLECULE; not
a dipole
Elements with atomic numbers greater than 92
(atomic number of uranium) are called transuranium HI EN of H = 2.1 EN of I = 2.5 ΔEN = 0.4 POLAR
elements. They were discovered in the laboratory using MOLECULE; a dipole
nuclear reactors or particle accelerators.
RADIOACTIVE PARTICLES
LEGENDS : Mass Number/ Atomic Charge
Lesson 4: Polarity of Molecules ATOMIC WEIGHT = MASS NUMBER
ATOMIC NUMBER = ATOMIC CHARGE
SUSPENSION: a mixture between two substances. One of
which is finally divided and dispersed in the other PROTON : 1/ 1/ P
NEUTRON : 1/ 0/ n
EMULSION: are an example of colloids composed of tiny GAMMA : 0/ 0/ Y
particles suspended in another immiscible (unmixable) DEUTERIUM : 2/ 1/ D
material
1/ 1/ P + 0/ 0/ Y -----> 1/ 1/ H
The two factors that determine the polarity of 1/ 1/ P + 1/ 0/ n -----> 2/ 1/ H - UNSTABLE
molecules are: - deuterium
2/ 1/ D + 2/ 1/ D -----> 4 / 2 / He
1) The polarity of the bonds between atoms which can be 4/ 2/ He + 1/ 1/ P -----> 5/ 3/ Li - UNSTABLE
studied based on electronegativity, and 5/ 3/ Li + 1/ 0/ n -----> 6/ 3/ Li
- If the value of the atomic weight is different from the periodic
table it is UNSTABLE.

ALPHA : 4 /2 /α
BETA : 0 /-1 /β
POSITRON : 0 / +1 / e
ELECTRON : 0 / -1 / e

ALPHA DECAY- loss of an alpha particle

Ex. Alpha Decay of Polonium - 210
(210 - atomic weight- protons)

210/ 84/ Po -----> 206/ 82 + 4 /2 /α

P= 84 82 4
N= 126 124 2

Neutron = Atomic Weight - Atomic Number

BETA DECAY- loss of a beta particle

Ex. Beta Decay of Carbon - 14

14/ 6/ C -----> 14/ 7/ N + 0 / -1/ β

POSITRON EMISSION- conversion of a proton in a nucleus

into a neutron along with the release of a positron
Ex. Positron emission of Oxygen - 15

15 / 8/ O -----> 15/ 7/ N + 0/ +1/ e

GAMMA RADIATION- emission of gamma ray

Ex. Gamma radiation in alpha decay of Uranium - 238

238/ 92/ U -----> 234/ 90/Th + 4 /2 /α

234/ 90/ Th -----> 234/ 90/ Th + 0/ 0/ Y

ELECTRON CAPTURE- drawing of an electron into an

atom’s nucleus
Ex. Electron Capture of Mercury - 201

201/ 80/ Hg + 0/ -1/ e -----> 201/ 79/ Au

BOMBARDMENT OF ALPHA PARTICLE- addition of aplha

particle
Ex. Bombardment of Beryllium with an Alpha particle

9/ 4/ Be + 4/ 2/ α -----> 12/ 6/ C + 1/ 0/ N