Astronomers today notice that matter in the universe today is a lot more evenly

Question

Astronomers today notice that matter in the universe today is a lot more evenly distributed than they would have expected from blind luck (the *horizon problem*). The also notice space throughout the universe seems to be very "flat" on average when they look over great distances. What one process is favored as an explanation for why this happened? A. dark energy B. normal expansion of the universe C. quantum fluctuations of space D. inflation E. the effects of light Learn about * gravitational lenses*. There is some mention in sections 13-16 and 13-23 of your textbook, but concentrate on the following source. http//en wikipedia org/wiki/Gravitational_lens and then answer the next few questions. The first question is. What is a gravitational lens? A. It is a type of black hole. B. It is a glass lens that is extremely heave C. It is a type of lens used in X-ray telescopes. D. It is an area of warped space that affects light.

Explanation / Answer

12- The inflation theory is given as the explanation of the flatness problem, and the horizon problem as follows

The Flatness Problem:
Imagine living on the surface of a soccer ball (a 2-dimensional world). It might be obvious to you that this surface was curved and that you were living in a closed universe. However, if that ball expanded to the size of the Earth, it would appear flat to you, even though it is still a sphere on larger scales. Now imagine increasing the size of that ball to astronomical scales. To you, it would appear to be flat as far as you could see, even though it might have been very curved to start with. Inflation stretches any initial curvature of the 3-dimensional universe to near flatness.

The Horizon Problem:
Since Inflation supposes a burst of exponential expansion in the early universe, it follows that distant regions were actually much closer together prior to Inflation than they would have been with only standard Big Bang expansion. Thus, such regions could have been in casual contact prior to Inflation and could have attained a uniform temperature.

OPTION D

13- the Gravitational lens is the distribution of matter in space that affects light passing through it.

OPTION D

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse A
• Subjects

---

---

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.