Could someone try to explain the Big Bang theory in as simple terms as you can?

Question

No Christian answers please, I don't believe in God and I don't need you to quote any bible verses at me

what caused the explosion?

Answer 1

The big bang theory is our best guess as to how the universe started.

We have discovered that the universe is expanding, like a the surface of a balloon being blown up. So, if we look into the past, it is logical to think that at some point the universe must have been really small, like an empty balloon. Since we don't know what cause the ballooon to expand, we assume there was a huge explosion causing everything to expand.

Answer 2

1) In the beginning, a huge explosion took place at the center of the universe. Cause may be a black hole that reached critical mass.

2) Exploding outward from this central point were chunks of matter, probably in a highly-energetic state because of the force of the explosion, probably spinning while hurtling through space.

3) These chunks, because of their rotation, separated into smaller chunks, still rotating about the same center of mass. Some of these chunks turned into galaxies, which themselves were spinning and separated into solar systems. These solar chunks, also spinning, also separated and became the sun and planets (and all the other bodies in our solar system: comets, asteroids, dwarf planets, moons, etc.).

That's about it, simply. The overview here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_bang is simple enough, and has a picture.

This is also simple http://liftoff.msfc.nasa.gov/academy/universe/b_bang.html but inaccurate. The big bang theory was expounded by the Belgian priest before anyone knew that anything was traveling away from us.

Here's a better one: http://www.esa.int/esaKIDSen/SEMSZ5WJD1E_OurUniverse_0.html . You can find more like this if you search for "big bang for kids". Don't be ashamed - the science behind this stuff is really hairy (and a lot flaky, as well).

Jim, http://www.jimpettis.com/wheel/

Answer 3

The Big Bang is a cosmological model of the universe whose primary assertion is that the universe started from a tremendously dense and hot state, and has been expanding ever since. The term is also used in a narrower sense to describe the fundamental 'fireball' that erupted at or close to time t=0 in the history of the universe.
Observational evidence for the Big Bang includes the analysis of the spectrum of light from galaxies, which reveal a shift towards longer wavelengths proportional to each galaxy's distance in a relationship described by Hubble's law. Combined with the assumption that observers located anywhere in the universe would make similar observations (the Copernican principle), this suggests that space itself is expanding. Extrapolation of this expansion back in time yields a state in the distant past in which the universe was in a state of immense density and temperature. This hot, dense state is the key premise of the Big Bang. Observations now place the age of the universe at around 13.7 billion years.
Theoretical support for the Big Bang comes from mathematical models, called Friedmann models, which show that a Big Bang is consistent with general relativity and with the cosmological principle, which states that the properties of the universe should be independent of position or orientation.
The theory of Big Bang nucleosynthesis predicts the rates at which various light elements are created in models of the early universe and gives results that are generally consistent with observations. The Big Bang model also predicts the cosmic microwave background radiation (CMB), a background of weak microwave radiation filling the whole universe.

Answer 4

Once upon a time, there was some dust, tiny little specks of matter that would all fit in a thimble, and nothing but empty space around them. The little particles of dust bumped into each other and started moving faster, collecting more energy. After a while, the built up so much energy that they exploded. The explosion was so huge that it created everything we know in the universe today, and still makes things expand. After a while, smaller chunks from the Big Bang got together and made little bangs, forming galaxies, stars and star systems.

Answer 5

The Big Bang Theory and the origin of the Universe
The Big Bang theory is a commonly accepted theory of how the Universe began. If you have been interested in astronomy for any period of time at all, then you have probably heard about it.

According to the Big Bang theory, our Universe burst into sudden existence in a massive explosion called the Big Bang and it's still evolving. The Big Bang probably occurred around 13.7 billion years ago if the theory is valid.

A primeval fireball

All of the matter and radiation in the universe started out in an extremely hot, dense state similar to a primeval fireball. From this state, the universe expanded rapidly. The Big Bang was the beginning of time and space as we know it. Matter and radiation from the fireball expanded and cooled. within seconds, protons, neutrons and electrons formed. Minutes later, hydrogen, helium, and other trace elements were created.

Galaxies and stars have their beginning

Millions and millions of years later, as matter and radiation separated, galaxies and stars started to form.

From what we can observe, the Universe continues to expand even today, and galaxies move farther and farther apart. Stars are still forming with the original hydrogen from the Big Bang. From what we can see, the universe is composed of approximately 74 percent hydrogen, 24 percent helium, and other trace elements as the theory predicts.

Predicting the future of the Universe

Most people generally accept the idea of the Big Bang as the origin of the Universe. Astronomers have differing opinions about what may happen to the universe in the future. We know that there is a finite amount of hydrogen in existence and once it's gone, all stars will stop shining. The Universe surely can't continue to expand forever.

The search for knowledge continues

Whatever may or may not happen, you can be sure that astronomers will continue to study the universe in search of answers about the beginnings of existence itself. Who knows, the Big Bang theory itself might give way to a better theory.

Answer 6

The universe emerged from nothing.
This was not an ordinary nothing,it had a potential and the potential had a finite aspect to it.
It produced a single space-time pulse of minimum size and duration.
The pulse continued,cubing space with each successive pulse.
The pressure caused it to explode outward,accelerating for one-thirty billionths of a second.
The radial speed attained the speed of light and continued expanding at that speed causing the pressure to not exceed a maximum.
It produced a sphere about 2 cm in diameter,that contained all the ingredients to evolve into the universe we see to-day.

Answer 7

The big bang theory is the theory that the universe began as a singularity, smaller than the size of an atom, which exploded with a tremendous amount of energy and at an apparently accelerating rate.

FYI: Oncamreatalent plagiarized his response from http://www.astronomy-for-kids-online.com/bigbangtheory.html

Answer 8

The simplest I can come up with is this:

At the beginning of time there was a HUGE explosion of energy and matter expanding from a single point and that's what created the universe.

Answer 9

About 14 billion years ago, the universe was the size of an atom. It exploded into what we now recognize as the universe.

Answer 10

No one really knows what caused the explosion, but according to M-Theory, it might have been caused as two p-branes collided. A p-brane is a multidimensional membrane.