Was the black stuff of space (lacking a better description) created in the Big Bang?

Question

Or was it just matter and energy that was created or released?
If it wasnt created then is the black stuff of space what the universe is expanding into?

So if the big bang didnt create the black stuff of space then that means the universe is not everything, we are expanding into something.

Answer 1

The big bang theory glosses over how space itself was created. It just says that the universe started out small a long time ago and has expanded. It doesn't really make sense to think about space existing with no matter in it before the big bang, but the theory doesn't say anything about what happened at the instant of creation or before -- just after.

When we say the universe is expanding, it isn't that matter is expanding into empty space. Space itself is expanding, and pulling the matter along with it. I get the idea that this is more what you're wondering about, and you're on the right track. The expansion is the expansion of space.

Answer 2

Two things.

1. The Big Bang theory starts with only energy. The energy evolved into everything else (light, matter, "stuff") as the "temperature" of the universe diminished.

2. The theory does not know (and cannot know) what could have happened before the "Planck time", a very, very short time after the initial start (at time zero), but still, AFTER the start. That is because our laws of physics cannot be applied to the conditions that existed before this Planck time (equivalently: the uncertainty principle prevents us from measuring anything before that time).

We do not know what triggered it. We do not know what was there (if anything) at the very start (time = zero).

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The universe is very likely infinite in extent if you look at the 3-D aspect of the universe; in the 4-D space continuum, there appears to be a "beginning" 13.7 billion years ago. If it is infinite (in 3-D), then it can be expanding without the need to expand "into" anything. (the 4th dimension, time, is expanding into the "future", whatever that is).

I am not familiar with all the steps in the creation of every bit of matter from the original energy (as explained by the Big Bang theory), but I know that the CMB (Cosmological Microwave Background radiation) is the result of the "moment" at which the temperature was cool enough for atoms to retain their electrons. Before that, the free electrons would interfere quite easily with light, and the whole universe was opaque (light could not travel for any distance). After that, the universe was transparent.

The moment (and the radiation) is sometimes called "recombination" because the electrons were finally combined with atomic nuclei, forming complete atoms, the first step in normal matter; or "decoupling" because the matter and the radiation were finally decoupled (prior to that, radiation and electrons were completely entangled).

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A theory is only a tool to help us explain what we see; it is usually based on hypotheses and lots of equations. Therefore it is a tool; neither "true" nor "false". A theory is merely more useful or less useful than another theory.

The Big Bang is, presently, the most useful theory. It brushed aside the "Steady State" theory (and a few other "static universe" theories) when the Cosmological Microwave Background radiation was discovered around 1965.

The CMB had been predicted (using various theories) as far back as 1948. In 1964, the Big Bang equations had predicted a "temperature" around 3 K, very close to what was found.

The static universe theories did not predict anything like the CMB.

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It is possible that some form of string theory (a.k.a. M-Theory) could one day become more useful than the Big Bang.

And there is always the possibility that the next "more useful theory" comes from something we can't even begin to guess.

Answer 3

What do you mean by "black stuff"?

If you mean dark matter, no one knows exactly what that is - it can't be seen or felt in anyway, but makes up something like 90% of the known universe.

The universe is not expanding into anything - certainly not space as the person above me has said - it's creating its own space as it goes.

To answer your question - 98% of all matter was created in the big bang, so the "black stuff" you're on about, whatever that is, was too.

Answer 4

Good question. I think your assuming the black stuff is made out of nothing. If your wrong and even the black stuff is made of something then it would of been created at the same time every thing else was.

Vacuum energy is a force that has been detected in free space, which would suggest to me than free space does have an underlying structure.

Answer 5

the black stuff of space isnt created, it is because it is a "space". the big bang made not only matter, but also antimatter... and like you said, the black stuff is where the universe is expanding into. the universe is expanding into "space".
thats why it is called "space". got it? i hope i helped you with that...

Answer 6

space doesn't look black because its made out of something that is coloured black but because of the absence of light, space is not made from anything the deffinition of space is its quality of lacking anything.
space is simply the gap between objects so before the big bang where all matter is contained in one soild lump their is no space untill it all expands outwards creating gaps the big bang is the explosion of space not an explosion into space

Answer 7

it was matter and energy realeased/created

the black stuff (unless theres something there) is nothing!

in theroy this is where the universe is expanding to.


but the universe could be like a bubble growing!

it just has to POP and we die!

Answer 8

its only black because of the way light isnt reflecting off it, space is HUGE ! ! ! ! ! and i dont think there is enough light produced in all of space for it to reflect and give it a color