Science 421A
Name:
What is Time?
The Big Bang
Answer According to the Big Bang theory, what existed in the Universe after Quark Era?
Display Label the different phases of the early Universe in the graphic below.
Science 421A
As you can see from your infographic, the early milestones of the universe happened very quickly. Until
the one microsecond milestone the times are displayed in scientific notation. As you know, scientific
notation can be used to show really big or really small numbers. To start investigating the universe, you
need to be comfortable using numbers shown in scientific notation.
1. Show the first three temperature measurements in scientific notation.
2. Calculate how many seconds are between phase 2 and phase 3? Show your number in
scientific notation and decimal form.
3. Show the time for phase 5 in scientific notation and using metric prefixes.
4. Show the time for phase 7 in scientific notation.
5. How many years are between phase 6 and phase 7? Show your number in scientific
notation and show your work.
6. Your infographic shows the universe is 13.7 billion years old, while the graphic on the
previous page shows the age being 15 billion years old. State which age is more precise
and calculate the difference between the two values?
Science 421A
Calculate Show the work for the conversions Professor Cox talks about.
a. 69 km/s equals ____ mi/s
b. 1 megaparsec equals ____ parsecs
c. 1 megaparsec equals _____ kiloparsecs
d. 30 kiloparsecs equals _____ light years
Explain How does an expanding Universe cause scientists to infer that the Universe started out
tiny?
Science 421A
The Early Universe
Model and Draw Use a molecular model kit to visualize the water analogy that Professor Cox
uses to explain symmetry.
Figure 1: Symmetry
Figure 2: Broken symmetry
The Arrow of Time – The Order of Disorder
Explain How did the development of the steam engine technology change society?
Explain How did a societal need trigger scientists to investigate heat?
State What is the first Law of Thermodynamics?
State What did Clausius discover about entropy?
Science 421A
Life Cycle of the Universe – Watch Intro only
A Very Precious Time
Reflect “Life is the means by which the Universe can understand itself, and it’s only for
an instant… Our significance lies in our continuing desire to understand and explore this
beautiful Universe.” – Brian Cox