When the universe was the size of a grapefruit?

The universe expanded from much much smaller than a proton to about the size of a grapefruit — an increase in size of at least 1078, or in plain English, a million times a million, and repeat 11 more times. We do not know what caused this short-lived stage of expansion that was faster than the speed of light.

How is the universe expanding evidence for the Big Bang?

The relationship Hubble discovered was later used as evidence that the Universe is expanding. Hubble’s law allowed astronomers to calculate how long ago galaxies started moving apart, which provides an estimate of when the Big Bang occurred and how old the Universe is.

What happened during the inflation epoch?

In physical cosmology, the inflationary epoch was the period in the evolution of the early universe when, according to inflation theory, the universe underwent an extremely rapid exponential expansion.

How does inflation explain the flatness of the universe?

The inflation theory predicts that the ultra-fast inflation would have expanded away any large-scale curvature of the part of the universe we can detect. The small universe inflated by a large amount and the part of the universe you can observe appears to be nearly flat. That solves the flatness problem.

What caused the inflation epoch?

Cosmic Inflation During the inflationary epic the strong nuclear force broke off from the weak nuclear and electromagnetic forces. This is thought to have triggered a rapid inflation of the universe into the empty space that surrounded it due to the enormous amount of energy released during this process.

How does inflation theory solve the flatness problem quizlet?

Inflation also solves the flatness problem as the rapid acceleration would essentially flatten out any irregularity in the geometry of the early post-big-bang Universe leading to the flat Universe we see today.

What happened to the size of the universe during the inflationary epoch?

The universe began to expand exponentially during this time period, and with that the temperature began to drop quickly as well. To get an idea of just how small the universe was up to this period, ponder this: It is estimated the increase in size during the inflationary period was by a factor of around 10^26.

What happened inflation epoch?

How does inflation flatten the universe?

The inflation theory predicts that the universe should be flat to very high precision. An extra energy called called dark energy is needed to make the universe curvature flat overall beyond what ordinary and dark matter can do.