"Cecil Moore" wrote in message
. net...
Dave Heil wrote:
You might add:
What set it off?

Chaotic conditions? One last electron encountering
the singularity?

Where did all of that matter come from?

A small plasma singularity?

Where did all of the empty space come from?

It's not empty, i.e. not absolute nothing.
Dark matter? Dark energy?

Presumably, the Big Bang was more energetic than
a Supernova. Heavy elements are created during
a Supernova. Why were no heavy elements created
during the Big Bang?
--
73, Cecil, w5dxp.com

Cecil

Heavy elements are created from precursors that exist prior to the
supernova. All fusion reactions up to Iron result in the creation of energy.
This is what keeps a star from collapsing under its gravitational mass. Once
a star reaches the stage where a given proportion of the core is composed of
Iron, not enough energy is given off to prevent the star from a catastrophic
gravitational collapse. It is the energy from the gravitational collapse
that creates the heavy elements and if the star is big enough, a nova or
supernova.

I seem to recall that the big bang by comparison resulted in an initial
state that was composed of something in the order of 97% Hydrogen and 3%
Helium. The elements condensed from an expanding cloud of sub atomic
particles as temperatures (or energy levels) dropped with the expansion. By
the time individual atoms had condensed, the particles must have been too
far apart to become involved in further fusion reactions until they
coalesced under gravity to form stars.

Each new generation of stars contains a higher level of Helium (and heavier
elements) than the last and this is used as an indicator for how old a star
or galaxy cluster might be.

Mike G0ULI