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09-18-2005
| | Curious | | Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 1
| | Big Bang Hi All,
now this may be a stupid question but its something i have always wondered about.
If we accept that the universe was created at the point of the big bang and that stars and planets followed. This means that all matter came from the same source i guess. Does this mean that wherever we travel in the universe we will only ever see the same elements that we see here on earth?
In other words is it possible that certain elements could exist in the universe that we know nothing about?
I realise this has to be a guessed answer seeing as we are not at liberty to explore the universe properly yet
Chris | 
09-18-2005
|  | Hypographer | | Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Oslo, Norway
Posts: 12,796
| | | Re: Big Bang Quote: |
Originally Posted by spongehammer is it possible that certain elements could exist in the universe that we know nothing about? | Yes.
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09-18-2005
|  | Explaining | | Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Maryland Heights, MO
Posts: 864
| | | Re: Big Bang Quote: |
Originally Posted by Tormod Yes. | Anything's possible. 
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09-18-2005
|  | Explaining | | Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: poksville,ga.
Posts: 809
| | | Re: Big Bang nothing un-natural exists
we also assume that there is matter outside our solar system
Last edited by goku; 09-18-2005 at 02:32 PM.
Reason: word useage
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09-18-2005
|  | Hypographer | | Join Date: Feb 2002 Location: Oslo, Norway
Posts: 12,796
| | | Re: Big Bang Quote: |
Originally Posted by goku we also assume that there is matter outside our solar system | FWIW I think that is fairly given considering our solar system comprises perhaps 0,00000000000000000000000000000000000000000000001% (give or take a dozen zeroes) of the matter in the universe... 
__________________ Your Friendly Neighborhood Administrator Want to sponsor Hypography? Buy a print in our Fall 2008 Benefit Sale Found a problem? Report it in our Bug Tracker Science is not only compatible with spirituality; it is a profound source of spirituality.
- Carl Sagan | 
09-18-2005
| | Thinking | | Join Date: Sep 2005
Posts: 22
| | | Re: Big Bang Quote: |
Originally Posted by spongehammer In other words is it possible that certain elements could exist in the universe that we know nothing about?
Chris | Oh yes, all we can say right now is that our understanding of the universe is very very limited...right here, in our galaxy, we are pretty sure that we have a Black hole in it's center and nothing in the actual science can explain what lies inside such objects. | 
09-18-2005
|  | Ancora Imparo |  Sponsor | | | | Re: Big Bang not sure what you mean by 'souce'. In the very early universe only Hydrogen and small amounts of Helium exsisted. It wasnt untill the formation of suns that the Hydrogen begun to fuse together and create the heavier elements. As we assume that suns work the same the universe over than we assume that they all convert Hydrogen into heavier elements. This can be backed up by a thing called emmision spectra. The emmision spectra of a sun can help us determine what it is composed of, lo and behold mainly Hydrogen and Helium (traces of heavier elements can be found in old or 2nd+ generation stars).
Now whether or not there are other elements we have not yet discovered is debateable. You see we have this thing called the periodic table and it organises the element in atomic order (increasing no. of protons in the neucleus) and so far there arent any gaps. To find an element that is heavier than all the ones we have so far discovered, I would say is somewhat improbable. This is becuase stars fuse elements together this process normally realeases vast amounts of energy. But once a star has used a lot of its hydrogen it fuses helium into berillium and eventually Iron - this is the limit for the release of enery from fusion. Iron has the most stable nucleus and th create elements any heavier than Iron it no longer releases energy but it actually requires energy!
So this makes the heavier elements a lot more scarce throughout the universe, add this with the fact that the heaviest stable know element is the Bismuth-209 isotope (this means anything heavier is unstable and will eventually decay untill it becomes stable) and it sounds very unlikely to find a previously undiscovered naturally occuring element.
But who knows I am a firm believer in linda's statement that 'Anything is possible'. Only time will tell at this point.
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09-18-2005
|  | Explaining | | Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: poksville,ga.
Posts: 809
| | | Re: Big Bang Quote: |
Originally Posted by Jay-qu not sure what you mean by 'souce'. In the very early universe only Hydrogen and small amounts of Helium exsisted | is that a fact?
Last edited by goku; 11-15-2005 at 03:08 PM.
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09-18-2005
|  | Ancora Imparo |  Sponsor | | | | Re: Big Bang current estimates say 74% hydrogen 26% helium and <1% lithium
__________________ Jay-qu
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Chemistry, Physics & Mathematics, Astronomy & Cosmology, Space and Technology & gadgets Forums
Einstein said that if quantum mechanics is right, then the world is crazy. Well, Einstein was right. The world is crazy.
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09-19-2005
|  | Exhausted Gondolier | | Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: the fringes of the lagoon
Posts: 4,338
| | | Re: Big Bang Jay-Qu is quite correct about the heavier elements having come from stellar fusion. Quote: |
Originally Posted by spongehammer In other words is it possible that certain elements could exist in the universe that we know nothing about? | If you mean elements in the ordinary sense, a given Z value, quantum mechanics can show whether or not there can be a more or less stable nucleus. I don't know if anyone has tried working it out for very large Z values, like several hundred, and I don't think it's a simple calculation to perform. It is however not very plausible to think that stellar activity would produce elements very much heavier than the naturally occuring ones, there are various reasons for this and spectroscopy does tell astronomers which elements are present in significant quantities in stars, even very far ones.
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