THE ORIGIN OF THE

LIGHT ELEMENTS
 BIG BANG THEORY
• first proposed by
Belgian astrophysicist
and priest Abbe
Georges Edouard
Lemaitre (1894-1966)
• postulates that the
universe emerged from
a state of enormous
density and energy
 BIG BANG THEORY
• was coined by
British
astronomer Fred
Hoyle in 1949.
• Was made in
response to
Einstein’s work
 BIG BANG THEORY
3 key observational evidence
support the big bang model:
1. Hubble or cosmic expansion
2. Cosmic microwave background (CMB)
3. Primordial or big bang nucleosynthesis
(BBN)
 BIG BANG THEORY
1. HUBBLE’S LAW (or Hubble Expansion)
–Formulated by American astronomer
Edwin Hubble and his assistant, Milton
Humason, which proved that the
universe was expanding, thereby
suggesting that it was once compact
 BIG BANG THEORY

Edwin Hubble and his assistant, Milton Humason

 BIG BANG THEORY
HUBBLE’S LAW (or Hubble Expansion)
–Edwin Hubble discovered through a 100-
inch Hooker telescope cepheids (a class of
variable starts pulsating periodically and
which can be used as an indicator of
distance and velocity) in numerous spiral
nebulae (now called galaxies) including the
Andromeda nebula.
BIG BANG THEORY

cepheids
 BIG BANG THEORY
COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND (CMB)
According to the prediction of theoretical
physicist and cosmologist George Mamow,
together with Robert Herman and Ralph
Alpher, if the early stage of the universe was
hot and dense, an afterglow of radiation must
have filled up the universe because of the
cooling process. This afterglow is detected
today as CMB.
 BIG BANG THEORY

George Mamow, Ralph Alpher, and Robert Herman

 BIG BANG THEORY
COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND (CMB)
– The discovery of CMB is the second
most significant (after Hubble’s Law)
observation ever made regarding the
description of the universe.
BIG BANG THEORY

Arno Penzias, Robert Wilson

 BIG BANG THEORY

COSMIC MICROWAVE BACKGROUND (CMB)

 BIG BANG THEORY
PRIMORDIAL (or Bigbang Nucleosynthesis)
–What made Gamow, Herman and
Alpher believe that the high
temperature of the universe was an
ideal condition for nuclear reactions
occurred during the first ten minutes of
the big bang.
 BIG BANG THEORY
PRIMORDIAL (or Bigbang Nucleosynthesis)
– Fusion of protons and neutrons resulting to
formation of nuclei.
– Produced the “light elements” shortly after
the big bang
 BIG BANG THEORY
PRIMORDIAL (or Bigbang Nucleosynthesis)
Light Elements include
– Hydrogen and its isotope deuterium
– Helium-3
– Helium-4
– Lithium-7
These were the elements which emerged
from Primordial Nucleosynthesis.
BIG BANG THEORY

PRIMORDIAL
(or Bigbang
Nucleosynthesis)
 BIG BANG THEORY
PRIMORDIAL (or Bigbang Nucleosynthesis)
At approximately 10^11 Kelvin and within
the first second after the big bang,
protons (nuclei of hydrogen), electrons,
and neutrons formed and moved with
too much energy.
 BIG BANG THEORY
PRIMORDIAL (or Bigbang Nucleosynthesis)
As the universe expanded, the
temperature decreased, forming a
stabilized number of protons and
neutrons, with protons outnumbering
the neutrons in 7:1 ratio.
 BIG BANG THEORY
PRIMORDIAL (or Bigbang Nucleosynthesis)
After about a minute, temperature further
decreased just enough for protons and
neutrons to collide and stick together to form
the nuclei of deuterium. Occasional collisions
of these nuclei led to the formation of helium
nuclei; and rarely, lithium nuclei.
 BIG BANG THEORY
PRIMORDIAL (or Bigbang Nucleosynthesis)
As temperature continued to fall rapidly, and
with a high number of protons in the early
universe, hydrogen became the most
abundant (about 5 percent), while helium
constituted 25 percent. There were also trace
amounts of lithium nuclei.
THE ORIGIN OF THE
HEAVY ELEMENTS
 The Origin of the Heavy Elements

STELLAR NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
– Nucleosynthesis in stars
– Responsible for the formation of heavy
elements
Two Key Processes of Stellar
Nucleosynthesis
1. Nuclear Fusion
2. Neutron Capture
The Origin of the Heavy Elements

STELLAR
NUCLEO-
SYNTHESIS
 The Origin of the Heavy Elements

STELLAR NUCLEOSYNTHESIS
Nuclei of different elements from boron to
iron formed from nuclear fusion. Nuclei
heavier than iron emerged from neutron
capture in conjunction with beta decay.
UNDERSTANDING THE
LIFE SPAN OF STARS
UNDERSTANDING THE LIFE SPAN OF STARS

Stars must have energy to exist for a

certain length of time. This energy come
from various nuclear fusion reactions
between light elements, involving the
release of a huge amount of energy that
keeps the star hot.
UNDERSTANDING THE LIFE SPAN OF STARS

Stars are fueled or powered by nuclear

fusion reactions at their cores, processes
that mostly involve the conversion of
hydrogen to helium.

Stellar nucleosynthesis depends on the

mass of the star.
UNDERSTANDING THE LIFE SPAN OF STARS
Classification of Stars
Small Medium-sized Massive
- Can merely -its hydrogen - Stars that are
transform atoms are five times greater
hydorgen into eventually than that of the
helium. depleted sun

Convert helium into carbon and

oxygen once their hydrogen atoms
run out. However, massive stars
undergo further nuclear reactions.
UNDERSTANDING THE LIFE SPAN OF STARS
UNDERSTANDING THE LIFE SPAN OF STARS

In massive stars,
Oxygen + carbon = Neon,
Sodium,
Magnesium,
Silicon, and
Sulfur
UNDERSTANDING THE LIFE SPAN OF STARS
As they age, huge stars with depleted cores and
exhausted fuel supplies undergo supernova.
Supernova- explosion of a star, resulting in an
extreme brightness and release of an
exceedingly high amount of energy.
This results in the formation of other
elements heavier than iron which will then be
ejected to space, finally forming the basis for
matter.
UNDERSTANDING THE LIFE SPAN OF STARS

supernova
NUCLEAR FUSION
REACTIONS
 NUCLEAR FUSION REACTIONS
2 Main Types
1. Nuclear Fission
– splitting of a heavy nucleus into lighter
nuclei.
– sustains nuclear power plants as well as
some nuclear weapons.
 NUCLEAR FUSION REACTIONS
2 Main Types
2. Nuclear Fusion
– Reaction through which light nuclei
combine to form a heavier nucleus.
– Produce less radioactive products and are
thus safer than those of nuclear fission.
– Generate less amounts of nuclear waste
that must be disposed properly.
NUCLEAR FUSION REACTIONS
 NUCLEAR FUSION REACTIONS
2 Phases
1. Exothermic Reactions: Hydrogen to
Helium
– Release energy in the form of heat or
light.
 NUCLEAR FUSION REACTIONS
2 Phases
1. Exothermic Reactions: Hydrogen to
Helium
• These reactions include:
– Proton-proton chain reaction (p-p chain)
or hydrogen burning
– Carbon-nitrogen-oxygen cycle (CNO cycle)
 NUCLEAR FUSION REACTIONS
2 Phases
2. Burning Phases Involving Heavier
Nuclei
1. Helium Burning
2. Carbon and Oxygen Burning
3. Silicon Burning
NEUTRON CAPTURE
 NEUTRON CAPTURE
Elements heavier than iron-56 are not
produced through nuclear fusion;
instead, they are assembled through
the capture of neutrons, thus creating
a heavier isotope of a particular
element.
 NEUTRON CAPTURE
2 Types
1. s-process
• Slow addition of neutrons in which hundreds
or thousands of years might pass in between
neutron additions.
• Beta decay has occurred before another
neutron is added.
• May produce stable isotopes up to lead (Pb)
and occurs inside a star before it explodes.
 NEUTRON CAPTURE
2 Types
2. r-process
• Rapid addition of neutrons
• May happen before beta decay occurs
• Happens only durng stellar explosions, which
quickly yield neutron-rich isotopes that will
decay later to yield heavy nuclides; that is,
elements beyond lead.