science

Explain it: What Is the Big Bang Theory?

  • SHARE
Explain it

... like I'm 5 years old

The Big Bang Theory is the idea that the universe started from a very tiny, extremely hot and dense point about 13.8 billion years ago. This point exploded and expanded over time, becoming the universe we know today. It's a bit like a balloon that starts small and gets bigger when you blow air into it. The universe, like the balloon, is still expanding today.

Think of the Big Bang as the moment someone started to blow air into a balloon. The balloon started off really small and then started to grow. And just like how every point on the surface of the balloon moves away from every other point as the balloon expands, every galaxy in our universe is moving away from every other galaxy.

Imagine you’re baking a loaf of raisin bread. The dough starts off small, with all the raisins (representing the galaxies) close together. As the dough rises and expands, the raisins move farther apart from each other. This is very much like the Big Bang Theory.

Explain it

... like I'm in College

According to the Big Bang Theory, the universe began as a singularity, a point of infinite density and temperature. This singularity then underwent a rapid expansion, a period known as inflation. During this time, the universe expanded faster than the speed of light. As the universe cooled, particles began to form and eventually, they came together to form atoms, stars, and galaxies.

The evidence for the Big Bang Theory comes from a variety of sources. One of the most significant is the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB), a faint radiation permeating the universe, which is the afterglow of the Big Bang. Another evidence is the observed redshift of distant galaxies, indicating that the universe is expanding.

EXPLAIN IT with

Imagine a box filled with Lego bricks. At first, all the bricks are stacked together in one corner, forming a dense, hot pile. This represents the singularity from which the universe started.

Now, start scattering the Lego bricks across the box. This action symbolizes the Big Bang and the subsequent inflation, where the universe expanded rapidly, and matter spread out.

Next, some of the Lego bricks start to come together to form structures - these are your atoms, stars, and galaxies. The remaining scattered Lego bricks represent the Cosmic Microwave Background radiation, the afterglow of the Big Bang still detectable today.

As you continue to move the Lego bricks further apart within the box, you are mimicking the ongoing expansion of the universe. The further apart the Lego bricks (galaxies), the faster they appear to move away from each other, illustrating the concept of redshift.

Explain it

... like I'm an expert

The Big Bang Theory, or more specifically the ΛCDM model, asserts that the universe originated from a hot, dense state or singularity approximately 13.8 billion years ago. A period of cosmic inflation followed, exponentially expanding the universe. As the universe cooled, the symmetry of forces broke and particles began to form via baryogenesis.

The formation of light elements during the epoch of nucleosynthesis and the isotropic distribution of the Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) radiation are key pieces of evidence supporting the Big Bang Theory. Further support comes from the observed large-scale structure of the universe and the redshift of distant galaxies, confirming cosmic expansion.

  • SHARE