How the universe started
Discussion
So, without being all negative, and 'it's far too hard to explain'
Can anyone give me a good explanation for how the universe started that could be given to highschool children? Essentially I need the bit before the big bang
I have tried this myself and failed badly, through basically not knowing the subject well enough.
Can anyone give me a good explanation for how the universe started that could be given to highschool children? Essentially I need the bit before the big bang
I have tried this myself and failed badly, through basically not knowing the subject well enough.
Hum, anything before the Big Bang is metaphysics, because we have no way of making observations of what was going on before the universe started.
There are untestable ideas, that for example it was a bubble that escaped from another universe that kicked off the Big Bang, but no way of knowing.
There are untestable ideas, that for example it was a bubble that escaped from another universe that kicked off the Big Bang, but no way of knowing.
It may not have started, it may have always existed..
http://phys.org/news/2015-02-big-quantum-equation-...
Most view it as all the matter in existence was in a singularity which exploded.
Simple enough?
http://phys.org/news/2015-02-big-quantum-equation-...
Most view it as all the matter in existence was in a singularity which exploded.
Simple enough?
You could do worse than park the little darlings in front of Carl Sagan's Cosmos, although they may be amused by his presentation style. There's also a programme on Discovery about this subject, with content from Prof Stephen Hawking(thankfully narrated by Sherlock Cumberholmes rather than Hawking's robot voice!) which might be a bit more contemporary; can't remember what it's called though.
Efbe said:
Essentially I need the bit before the big bang
Is that all. You just want the answer to the biggest unanswered question in physics and cosmology!?! 
Basically - we don't know. Current scientific theories break down around the plank epoch (10^-34 seconds after the big bang). There are various hypotheses as to what triggered the big bang and what (if anything) came before it, if "before" even has meaning.
You might want to take a look over m-theory, but it's probably a little beyond your average high school child
Which universe? There's evidence from the study of the background radiation that many expansion periods, such as described in the first few nano seconds before our physical laws solidified, have occurred. Undoubtedly many universes exist, and the bounds of our observable universe is many million light years across...
Best not to worry about it, the architect doesn't want us to know our he/she would have left a decent manual.
Best not to worry about it, the architect doesn't want us to know our he/she would have left a decent manual.
Fantastic question! Sure beats the age old question of 'what car for £50'
Seriously though, I actually laughed at the very notion that the great minds of the Piston Head massive would have this one written down on the back of a fag packet. Stephen Hawkings hasn't sussed it but a bunch of car lovers on the tinterweb have, brilliant
Seriously though, I actually laughed at the very notion that the great minds of the Piston Head massive would have this one written down on the back of a fag packet. Stephen Hawkings hasn't sussed it but a bunch of car lovers on the tinterweb have, brilliant
Thanks all. Very useful stuff here.
I have listened and read some Hawking which has given me a few more things to say on the subject; though generally speaking the big bang concept is quite well known by high school children.
The problem is they always ask the question; so what was there before, where did the bang come from?
Now I get it's completely theoretical, and we can't prove any of it, ergo we will only have a hypothesis.
From reading Hawkings stuff I got the impression the answer was likely to fall in the way time works/flows; so if not a contraction/expansion theory, then a time goes in a loop, or moves backwards and forwards, and so there was no start, just a loop.
So can I change my question slightly:
What's the most most prevalent/agreed upon theory of what came before the big bang?
I have listened and read some Hawking which has given me a few more things to say on the subject; though generally speaking the big bang concept is quite well known by high school children.
The problem is they always ask the question; so what was there before, where did the bang come from?
Now I get it's completely theoretical, and we can't prove any of it, ergo we will only have a hypothesis.
From reading Hawkings stuff I got the impression the answer was likely to fall in the way time works/flows; so if not a contraction/expansion theory, then a time goes in a loop, or moves backwards and forwards, and so there was no start, just a loop.
So can I change my question slightly:
What's the most most prevalent/agreed upon theory of what came before the big bang?
Efbe said:
What's the most most prevalent/agreed upon theory of what came before the big bang?
Same answer I'm afraid: There isn't a consensus as there is no evidence to base a consensus on. The learning point for the kids should be that no matter how much we know, there are always unanswered questions out there; that science is an ongoing progression, not something with a fixed end point of "we know everything now".Pitch it as an exciting mystery...
Efbe said:
So can I change my question slightly:
What's the most most prevalent/agreed upon theory of what came before the big bang?
I'm not sure there is a single one. The leading contenders are listed here:What's the most most prevalent/agreed upon theory of what came before the big bang?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronology_of_the_uni...
IMO it would be far more honest to tell your students that it is an unanswered question and that there are currently multiple hypotheses being worked on by scientists all over the world trying to find the answer.
Never be afraid to say "we don't know". One of your students may even be inspired by this and seek to find the answer themselves - perhaps successfully.
Edited by Moonhawk on Wednesday 18th February 10:39
tog said:
Moonhawk said:
Efbe said:
Essentially I need the bit before the big bang
Is that all. You just want the answer to the biggest unanswered question in physics and cosmology!?! 
Shaoxter said:
The Big Bang is when both space and time were created so there is no "before".
Maybe, but there are other ideas too...Sheets Tabuer said:
It may not have started, it may have always existed..
http://phys.org/news/2015-02-big-quantum-equation-...
...
Fascinating stuff!http://phys.org/news/2015-02-big-quantum-equation-...
...
Shaoxter said:
The Big Bang is when both space and time were created so there is no "before".
To be fair - we don't actually know that.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronology_of_the_uni...
OP, you have a golden opportunity here to get the kids thinking about one of the biggest questions humankind has ever asked
"where did it all begin?"
One of those little bright sparks might be so intrigued that later on in life they go on to be part of a research team which goes onto perform experiments that probe for the answers to this very question
Never, ever be afraid of saying "I dont know. Nobody knows"
It's the things we don't know that are most exciting and most interesting
"where did it all begin?"
One of those little bright sparks might be so intrigued that later on in life they go on to be part of a research team which goes onto perform experiments that probe for the answers to this very question
Never, ever be afraid of saying "I dont know. Nobody knows"
It's the things we don't know that are most exciting and most interesting
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