Physical Science 12

Formation of Elements in Big Bang

and Stellar Evolution
3rd Quarter
Week 1

Development and Quality Assurance Team

Developer: Celeste B. Suazo

Evaluator: Jessa May Antonio
Learning Area Supervisor: Edna E. Trinidad

Illustration Credits:
Title Page: Marieto Cleben V. Lozada Submit only YOUR ANSWER
Visual Cues: Ivin Mae M. Ambos ON THE FORMATIVE TEST
found at the last part of this
LAS and your OUTPUT FOR
ACTIVITY 3
Competency:
o Give evidence for and describe the formation of heavier elements during
star formation and evolution.

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released by DepEd Central Office. Furthermore, utilization of duly acknowledged external resources is purely of non-profit, for educational
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 o Explain how the concept of atomic number led to the synthesis of new
elements in the laboratory. (S11/12PS-IIIb-11)

Objectives: At the end of the week, you shall have:

o Identify the evidences supporting the Big Bang Theory and explain how
the concept of atomic number led to the synthesis of new elements in the
laboratory;
o Illustrate the fusion shell and describe the formation of heavier elements
during stellar evolution; and,
o Reflect on the importance of explaining Big Bang theory to the society
through poster making.

Learner’s Tasks

Lesson Overview
The world is made up of matter from a pure substance called elements and a combination of
these pure substances called compounds. As of today, there are already118 existing elements but only
about 90 of these elements are naturally occurring. These elements are found to be made up of atoms
which are the building blocks of matter. The questions is, how do these elements existed? Where do
they come from? In this module you will learn the formation of elements during the Big Bang and
stellar evolution and how the concept of atomic number lead to the synthesis of new elements in the
laboratory.
The Big Bang
The Big Bang Theory is the leading explanation about how the universe began. At its
simplest, it says that the universe started with a small singularity then inflated over the next 13.8
billion years to the cosmos that we know today.
Current instruments don't allow astronomers to peek back at the universe's birth. With this,
much of what we understand about the Big Bang Theory comes from mathematical formulas, models
and evidences. These pieces of evidences include occurrence of redshift, cosmic microwave
background radiation and abundance of light elements.
Occurrence of Red Shift (Evidence from red-shift)

Astronomers have revealed that, in general, the farther away a galaxy is, the more red-shifted its light
is. This also means that the farthest the galaxies are, the faster they are moving away. This is similar to
an explosion where the fastest moving materials travel farthest from the explosion. Red-shift data
provides evidence that the Universe, including space itself, is expanding.

Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR)

Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR) was discovered when Arno Penzias and Robert
Wilson pointed a radio antenna to space and noticed a low, steady “hum” for their Holmdel Horn
antenna, an antenna built to support NASA’s Project Echo. They concluded that the noise is the
Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation (CMBR) of which they concluded are the remains of
thermal energy created after the Big Bang expansion.
Abundance of Light Elements
Disclaimer: This Learning Activity Sheet (LAS) is based from the Self-Learning Modules, Learner’s Materials, Textbooks and Teaching Guides
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 The Universe's light-element abundance is another significant principle by which the Big Bang
hypothesis is tested. The theory predicts that the universe is composed of 73% Hydrogen and 25%
helium by mass.

It is now identified that the elements detected in the Universe were formed in either of two
ways. Light elements namely Deuterium, Helium, and Lithium were produced in the first few minutes
of the Big Bang, while elements heavier than Helium are thought to have their origins in the interiors
of stars which formed much later in the history of the Universe. Both theory and observation lead
astronomers to believe this to be the case.

Formation of Light Elements

Figure 1. The Big Bang Theory Timeline

Big bang nucleosynthesis is the process of producing the light elements during the big bang
expansion. Few seconds after the start of the big bang, the universe was filled with protons, neutrons,
electrons, and positrons. After the first three minutes, the universe cooled down to a point where
atomic nuclei can form. Protons and neutrons combined to form atomic nuclei such as deuterium.

When the temperature cooled down below 1010 K, deuterium nuclei was being combined with other
nuclei to form heavier ones. Helium-3 was formed from the fusion of two deuterium nuclei and a
release of a neutron.

Tritium or hydrogen-3 was produced from the fusion of two deuterium nuclei and a release of a
proton.
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 Helium-4 was also synthesized from deuterium and helium-3.

Helium-4 was produced from the fusion of deuterium and tritium.

For the first three minutes, a substantial amount of neutrons was converted into helium-4 nuclei,
before their decay. Helium then combined to other nuclei to form heavier ones such as Lithium-7 and
Beryllium-7.

Beryllium-7 was produced from helium-3 and helium-4.

Among the light elements formed, deuterium, helium-3, helium-4, and lithium7 were stable.
Beryllium-7 was unstable and decayed spontaneously to lithium-7.

After the combination of electrons and neutrons, atoms of which are mostly hydrogen and helium,
light can finally shine. After 1 billion year, gravity makes hydrogen and helium gases coalesce to form
giant clouds that will become galaxies, smaller clumps of gas collapse to form the first stars. As
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galaxies clustered together under gravity after 15 billion years, the stars died and spewed heavy
elements into space, which will eventually turn into new stars and planets.

Stellar Formation and Evolution

The universe is constantly expanding for a number of years. The elements Hydrogen and
Helium gases condensed or contracted to form stars including the sun. For the past million years, the
stars made of Hydrogen became very hot and very dense. For the duration of this stellar evolution,
nuclear reactions continue which produced elements heavier than Lithium. The other light elements
combined to form atoms of Carbon, Neon, Oxygen, Silicon and Iron.
Stellar evolution describe the way stars changes with time. The main feature that determines
how a star evolve is its mass as it reaches its main structure. Stellar evolution starts from a yellow or
red main sequence star. Consecutive nuclear reactions happened and eventually become a giant red
star. This reactions involved the development of each new element occurred in areas of layers called
fusion shells. By means of this, new elements were formed, new layers sum up to the size of the star
and finally become a red giant star. This phenomenon is described as an “onion skin structure” as
they progressed and formed new elements.

Fig. 2 Structure of a Fusion Shell

Young stars made up of Hydrogen (H) were driven by the energy released from the fusion of
hydrogen nuclei to form helium (He). In the outer layer of the shell (see figure 2 above)the nuclear
reaction of hydrogen through nuclear fusion created Helium. When the production is enough the
nuclei became concentrated at the core and these makes the temperature hotter in this area.
When the temperature becomes hotter and enough for the Helium fusion to occur, Helium
burning or chemical burning will begin. The star becomes red when the outer temperature became
colder than the core. Beryllium (Be) is formed from the fusion of Helium. When Helium nucleus
fused with Beryllium it forms into Carbon (C).
The Carbon nuclei produced is found at the center of the star . This makes a carbon core.
When it reach a definite temperature, enough to make a carbon fusion, Neon (Ne) will be created
within the carbon fusion shell. Neon will then be concentrated at the core then undergoes fusion to
produce Oxygen (O). The process is repeated but this time when Oxygen became concentrated at the
core nuclear fusion happens again to produce Silicon (Si). The fusion of Silicon produced radioactive
Nickel (Ni), then it will eventually decayed and formed into Iron (Fe). The other elements were
formed due to the nuclear fusions between different nuclei. When Iron (Fe) were formed the
production of elements stopped because it is very stable and cannot undergo nuclear fusion. The
reactions stated above produces great energy enough to fuel nuclear reactions.
Now, in order to produce elements heavier than Iron, a great amount of energy is required.
Greater mass stars keep on contracting and burning heavier elements until Iron is formed in their core.
The Iron group elements, takes the maximum known energy per nuclei. The inner core of the star will
keep contracting and becomes hotter. A supernova explosion occurs. As the core of the star breaks
down, the density raises till it becomes potential for protons to capture electrons and become neutrons.
Disclaimer: This Learning Activity Sheet (LAS) is based from the Self-Learning Modules, Learner’s Materials, Textbooks and Teaching Guides
released by DepEd Central Office. Furthermore, utilization of duly acknowledged external resources is purely of non-profit, for educational
use and constitutes fair use. All Rights Reserved.
How do the concept of atomic number led to the synthesis of new elements in the laboratory?

In 1869 a Russian chemist Dmitri Mendeleev arranged the elements according to the atomic
masses. But in 1913 Moseley claimed and confirmed that the basis for the arrangement of the elements
in the Periodic table is their atomic number. Henry Gwyn Jeffreys Moseley an English Physicist
found out that when different metals are bombarded with electrons it produces various frequencies of
X-rays. He recognized these results to the variations in the positive charge in the nucleus of the atom.
Moseley associated this frequencies to whole numbers which he assigned to each element called the
atomic number.
The atomic number is unique since it is the identity of the atom in symbol Z. Atomic
number (Z) is the number of protons in the nucleus of the atom of each element. The number of
protons is equal to the number of electron in a neutral atom. In a neutral atom, since the atomic
number is equal to the number of protons it also indicates the number of electrons. Example, the
atomic number of Sodium (Na) is 11, this means that neutral sodium atom has 11 protons and 11
electrons. The total number of neutrons and protons inside the nucleus of the atom is the atomic mass.
Atomic nuclei contain protons and neutrons except Hydrogen which has only 1 proton and 0 neutron.
ATOMIC NUMBER = NUMBER OF PROTONS
NUMBER OF ELECTRONS = NUMBER OF PROTONS (in a neutral atom)
ATOMIC MASS = NUMBER OF PROTONS + NUMBER OF NEUTRONS

Naming of new elements is governed by by the IUPAC or International Union of Pure and
Applied Chemistry and IUPAP or International Union of Pure and Applied Physics. In 2016 the
IUPAC and IUPAP decided that the names of all new elements should have an ending that reflects
and maintains historical and chemical consistency.
The periodic table of elements shows that there are 94 naturally occuring and 24 synthetic
elements. Synthetic elements are elements that are man made and does not exist in nature. They can
only be created artificially and only occur on Earth as the product of atomic bombs or experiments.
Elements after Uranium on the periodic table are only produced artificially, and are known as
the transuranium or transuranic elements. The first element to be synthesized is Technetium (Tc)
atomic number 43. There are other elements such as , Promethium (Pm), with an atomic number of
61, Astatine (As), with an atomic number of 85, Francium (Fr)with an atomic number of 87, and the
transuranium elements which are elements from atomic number 93 and higher in the periodic table.
These elements have been discovered to have small amounts in nature typically short-lived natural
radioactive series.

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released by DepEd Central Office. Furthermore, utilization of duly acknowledged external resources is purely of non-profit, for educational
use and constitutes fair use. All Rights Reserved.
 Nuclear reaction is the reaction that produces a heavier product nucleus. It involves a heavy
target nucleus and a light bombarding particle which emits a very high electrogmagnetic energy. The
nuclear reaction involved in synthesis of new element in the laboratory includes neutron bombardment
and fusion.

1. Neutron bombardment- it causes elements to absorb neutron, thus becoming a heavier isotope of
that element; if this heavier isotope is unstable, it may undergo beta decay meaning a neutron is
converted into a proton, with the emission of a beta particle (ß, a high-speed electron ejected from the
nucleus). The nucleus thus increases in atomic number by one unit:

1 1 0
0n —> p +
1 -1 ß
2. Fusion of heavy elements with lighter elements like Hydrogen, Helium, Carbon, Nitrogen, or
Oxygen will be able to take place in cyclotrons and particle accelerators. The particles are brought
together with just enough energy to overcome the mutual repulsion of the positivelycharged nuclei and
cause the elements to fuse together, forming a heavier element in their place. Sometimes this process
is referred to as cold fusion. Some examples of this process are shown below:
24696Cm + 126C —> 254102No + 4 10n
Atomic no. 96 Curium (Cm) fused with a lighter element Carbon (C) to produced Nobelium
(No) with atomic no. 102 and a neutron particle.

20983Bi + 5826Fe —> 266109Mt + 10n

Atomic number. 83 Bismuth is fused with Iron (Fe) atomic number. 26 to produced
Meitnerium with atomic number. 109 and a neutron.

The artificially prepared elements or the so called synthetic elements like atomic no. 100
Fermium are made by bombarding heavy elements such as Uranium or Plutonium, using neutrons
or alpha particles. The synthesis of the transfermium elements meaning elements with atomic no.
101 or higher were produced by the fusion of the nuclei of two lighter elements. Elements 101 through
106 were first produced by fusing the nuclei of slightly lighter elements, such as Californium, with
other light elements, such as Carbon. Elements 107 through 112 were first produced by fusing the
nuclei of mediumweight elements, such as Bismuth or Lead , with other medium-weight elements
such as Iron, Nickel, or Zinc . Most of the elements with atomic no. 113 through atomic no. 118 were
discovered by bombarding Plutonium,
Americium, or a heavier transuranium element in the Actinide series with Calcium, the
Japanese scientists who synthesized element 113 Nihonium (Nh), fused Bismuth with Zinc.
Activity 1. Find my Match!
A. Directions: Match the evidences supporting the Big Bang Theory in column A to its
description in column B.
Column A Column B

1. Cosmic Microwave a. This theory includes Big Bang nucleosynthesis. It

Background Radiation suggests that few seconds after the start of Big Bang,
(CMBR) the universe was filled with protons, neutrons,
electrons and positrons which combined to form
atomic nuclei.

2. Occurrence of Redshift b. These are remains of thermal energy created after the
Big Bang expansion. This was discovered when
Disclaimer: This Learning Activity Sheet (LAS) is based from the Self-Learning Modules, Learner’s Materials, Textbooks and Teaching Guides
released by DepEd Central Office. Furthermore, utilization of duly acknowledged external resources is purely of non-profit, for educational
use and constitutes fair use. All Rights Reserved.
 astronomers noticed a low, steady “hum” for their
antenna.

3. Formation of Light Elements c. This evidence includes galaxies moving away from
other galaxies resulting to the production of a light
that is shifted to the red end of the spectrum.

B. Directions: Explain how the concept of atomic number led to the synthesis of new elements in the
laboratory.

Reflection Rubric
3 Practical application is scientifically explained consistent to the concepts, and has no
misconception.
2 Practical application is scientifically explained consistent to the concepts, but with minimal
misconception.
1 Practical application is explained consistent to the concepts, but with misconceptions.
0 No discussion

Activity 2. Draw Me!

Directions: Draw the fusion shell and write a description on the formation of heavier elements
during stellar evolution.

Rubric for Activity 2

Criteria 5 points 4 points 3 points 2 points 1 point
Accuracy and Completed the Completed the Completed the Completed the Students were
completeness steps like experts steps almost steps but were not steps but were missing steps and
and very confident perfectly and were confident in indecisive in did not confidently
in presenting the confident in presenting the presenting the present the
information. presenting the information. information. information.
information.
Accuracy in Illustrate the fusion Illustrate the fusion Illustrate the fusion Illustrate the fusion Illustrate the
illustrating the shells like experts shells almost shells but two shells but four fusion shells but
fusion shells. and were very perfectly and were entries were entries were more than four
confident in confident in incorrect incorrect. entries were
presenting the presenting the incorrect.
information. information.
Cleanliness and The illustration is The illustration has The illustration has The illustration The illustration
Orderliness neat and orderly slight erasures and pencil marks with has many pencil does not depict
arranged. is erasures and is marks with too the fusion shells
orderly arranged. slightly is not many erasures and is not orderly
orderly arranged. and is not orderly arranged.
arranged.
Total 15 12 9 6 3

Activity 3. My Poster!
Disclaimer: This Learning Activity Sheet (LAS) is based from the Self-Learning Modules, Learner’s Materials, Textbooks and Teaching Guides
released by DepEd Central Office. Furthermore, utilization of duly acknowledged external resources is purely of non-profit, for educational
use and constitutes fair use. All Rights Reserved.
 Directions: Make a poster showing the importance of explaining the concept of Big Bang theory to
the society.

Rubric for Activity 3

CATEGORY 5 3 2 1
Labels All items of importance on Almost all items of Many items of importance Labels are too small to
the illustration are clearly importance on the on the illustration are view OR no important
labelled with labels that illustration are clearly clearly labelled with labels items were labelled.
can be read from at least labelled with labels that that can be read from at
3 feet away. can be read from at least least 3 feet away.
3 feet away.
Graphics - All graphics are related to All graphics are related to All graphics relate to the Graphics do not relate to
Relevance the topic and make it the topic and most make it topic. One or two the topic OR several
easier to understand. All easier to understand. borrowed graphics have a borrowed graphics do not
borrowed graphics have a Some borrowed graphics source citation. have a source citation.
source citation. have a source citation.
Attractiveness The poster is The poster is attractive in The poster is acceptably The poster is distractingly
exceptionally attractive in terms of design, layout, attractive though it may messy or very poorly
terms of design, layout, and neatness. be a bit messy. designed.
and neatness. It is not attractive.
Total 15 9 6 3

Formative Test

Answer the following questions in the answer sheet. Write the letter of the correct answer.
1. Which theory claims that around 13.8 billion years ago a hot compact mass about one
centimeter in diameter experienced a rapid expansion?
a. Big Bang Theory c. Theory of Relativity
b. Creation Theory d. Plate tectonic theory
2. Which term is used to describe the atoms of an element with the same number of protons but
different number of neutrons?
a. Atomic number c. Isotopes
b. Atomic mass d. Electrons
3. What are the first four elements arranged in the periodic table.
a. Lithium, Carbon, Oxygen, Sulfur c. Carbon, Hydrogen, Iron, Gold
b. Hydrogen, Helium, Lithium, Beryllium d. Gold, Silver, Iron, Lead
4. What are the two isotopes of Hydrogen formed after the big bang nucleosynthesis reactions?
a. Helium and Tritium c. Hydrogen and Helium
b. Deuterium and Lithium d. Deuterium and Tritium
5. This evidence includes galaxies moving away from other galaxies resulting to the production
of a light that is shifted to the red end of the spectrum.
a. Formation of Light Elements
b. Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation ( CMBR)
c. Occurrence of Redshift
d. Big Bang nucleosynthesis
6. When this element was formed, the production of elements stopped because it is very stable
and cannot undergo a nuclear fusion.
a. Iron c. Carbon
b. Helium d. Oxygen

Disclaimer: This Learning Activity Sheet (LAS) is based from the Self-Learning Modules, Learner’s Materials, Textbooks and Teaching Guides
released by DepEd Central Office. Furthermore, utilization of duly acknowledged external resources is purely of non-profit, for educational
use and constitutes fair use. All Rights Reserved.
 7. He is an English Physicist who found out that when a different metals are bombarded with
electrons it produces various frequencies of X-rays.
a. Dmitri Mendeleev c. Isaac Newton
b. Henry Gwyn Jeffreys Moseley d. Ernest Rutherford
8. Synthetic elements or elements artificially prepared are also known as _________.
a. Artificially prepared c. Synthetic elements
b. Transuranium elements d. Naturally occurring elements
9. The first element to be synthesized in the laboratory is ____________.
a. Uranium c. Technetium
b. Promethium d. Astatine
10. Element 113 discovered by the Japanese Scientist and was synthesized through the fusion of
Bismuth and Zinc was named as__________.
a. Americium c. Neptunium
b. Nihonium d. Fermium

References

BBC. (2020). Red-shift, Big Bang and Universal Expansion. BBC BiteSize,
https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zg9x3k7/revision/2.

Big Bang Nucleosynthesis. (n.d.). http://w.astro.berkeley.edu/~mwhite/darkmatter/bbn.html.

Columbia Encyclopedia. (2012). Synthetic Elements. The Columbia Electronic

Encyclopedia 6th Edition
https://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/science/chemistry/elemen ts/synthetic-elements.

COSMOS. (n.d.). Stellar Evolution. COSMOS-The SAO Encyclopedia of Astronomy,

https://astronomy.swin.edu.au/cosmos/S/Stellar+Evolution.

Dutton, J. A. (2020). The Evolution of Massive Stars and Type II Supernovae. Penn State College of Earth and Mineral
Sciences, https://www.eeducation.psu.edu/astro801/content/l6_p5.html.

Friedlander, J. E. (2019). Astronomy. Encyclopedia Britannica,

https://www.britannica.com/science/astronomy.

Answer Key

Activity 1. Find my Match! 1. B

A. 2. C
Disclaimer: This Learning Activity Sheet (LAS) is based from the Self-Learning Modules, Learner’s Materials, Textbooks and Teaching Guides
released by DepEd Central Office. Furthermore, utilization of duly acknowledged external resources is purely of non-profit, for educational
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3. A 8. B
9. C
B. Answer may vary. 10. B

Activity 2. Draw Me!

Answers may vary

Activity 3. My Poster!
Answers may vary

Formative

1. A
2. C
3. B
4. D
5. C
6. A
7. B

Disclaimer: This Learning Activity Sheet (LAS) is based from the Self-Learning Modules, Learner’s Materials, Textbooks and Teaching Guides
released by DepEd Central Office. Furthermore, utilization of duly acknowledged external resources is purely of non-profit, for educational
use and constitutes fair use. All Rights Reserved.