biggg, bang, black holes, no math

IntroductionTopic 2: Going Big

Big Bang, Black Holes, No Math

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ASTR/PHYS 109Dr. David TobackLectures 2 & 3



Prep For Today (is now due) – L2If you just joined the class, welcome. Send me an email if you need an extension

• Reading:– Required: BBBHNM Unit 1 (Chapter 1-4)– Recommended Reading: BHOT: Chap. 1-3, SHU: Chap. 1-2, TOE: Chap.

1• eCampus Stuff

– Read eCampus Instructions on the main course page: Was due today before class

– Warm-up Quizzes Part I: Was due today before class, but due to people struggling I have extended to Friday before class• Will do Part II later

• Pre-Lecture Reading Questions:– Read Instructions on the main course page: Was due today before class– Unit 1 Quiz: Was due today before class, but due to people struggling I

have extended to Friday before class• Other Prep

– Make sure you are receiving email using the Official A&M email, will use it for class announcements

– Bring lined paper and your iClicker class: Due today 2



How the course is organized

Next few slides are on course organization,

grades etc…http://people.physics.tamu.edu/toback/109/CourseOrganization.pdf

(page 37-44) Andhttp://people.physics.tamu.edu/toback/109/ClassSchedule.pdf

• More on eCampus Quizzes and how to get help• Grades Late Penalties

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Big Bang & Black Holes Course Organization Document

Getting Help/Additional Attempts for Quizzes

• Send an email at [email protected]• Two ways: Send email where you type in the information, or

send a copy of the worksheet– Instructions on Page 3 of

http://people.physics.tamu.edu/toback/109/ECampus_Quiz_Instructions_and_Help.pdf

– Follow the instructions on how to get to all the information about your previous attempts that you will need to send us in your request• For good examples see

– Direct link to an excel worksheet at– http://people.physics.tamu.edu/toback/109/RequestingAttemptsWorksheet.xlsx

• With that information we can usually figure out what is causing you to struggle (and will usually just give you two more attempts)

• Then again, maybe you are correct and we need to fix it in eCampus! If that's the case, we'll give you extra credit!

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Two Types of PLRQ Assignments1. Quizzes, Units 1-6

– Each Unit has a quiz with ten questions for you to evaluate the quality of some question

– Designed to help you decide if it’s a good question– Feedback will help you learn about whether it is

good, and contain some physics answers– Won’t get the same questions for each quiz– Unit 1 is Pass/Revise

2. You submit your own questions for Units 2– Pass/Revise until you get 4 excellent questions– You write your own questions and submit to

TurnItInThere are late penalties

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Other Stuff

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Big Bang & Black Holes Course Organization Document 28

Class Time• Lecture will be a time where you and I

interact by asking and answering each others questions

• You will need to prepare BEFORE lecture – Do the reading assignments– Do the “Pre-Lecture Reading Questions”

Quiz– Be ready to be answer questions in class

using a clicker• If you don’t understand something, ask a

question in class!


Clickers and In Class Quizzes•We will be doing a lot of clicker quizzes during class•You will need a clicker– Can get a used one/use the same one for multiple classes

•More information at http://people.physics.tamu.edu/toback/109/iClickers.shtml

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Accounts, email and eCampus•You will need a NetID/UIN account for your clicker and eCampus•You are responsible for checking your official email periodically for announcements


In-Class QuizzesThere will frequently be in-class quizzes which are part of your grade

•Most will be done with an iClicker– Can buy a used one– Register with your UIN at

http://people.physics.tamu.edu/toback/109/iClickers.shtmlwe will be using eCampus

– Bring your clicker every day•Sometimes we will do in-class writing– Bring a sheet of lined paper and a pen every day

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Required TextbookRequired Textbook•Big Bang, Black Holes, No Math (Toback)•Extra credit for students who email me corrections which make it better (list of previous corrections online)

• eBook or paper is fine. Can order now at bigbang.physics.tamu.edu

• Copy on Reserve if needed

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Recommended TextbooksRecommended books• Briefer History of Time (Hawking)• The Science of Interstellar (Thorne)• Theory of Everything (Hawking)• Stephen Hawking’s Universe (Filkin)• The First Three Minutes (Weinberg)• Other readings on the WebMake sure you get the most up-to-date versions of each (see webpage)– Not “Brief History”, Briefer History– Paperbacks available for each– Looks like about $15 for ALL of them (with

shipping) if you get them online

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Recitation and TA Help• While there is no recitation for this course, there are Teaching Assistants (TA’s).

• They can help you:– Understand the science and get good at learning

how to understand how to use Peerceptiv, and do the things necessary to pass the quizzes

– Give you feedback on your paper drafts before they are submitted

– Help review your case if you think you were misgraded

• Their emails are on the main page


Just for Fun… • We have created a “just for fun” Facebook account for students (past, present and future) who want to stay in touch with the course

• Learning about the Big Bang and Black Holes Without the Math

• It’s not part of the course, but I try to post fun, related things there periodically– If you send me something fun (and appropriate

for public consumption) I’ll post it for everyone– If you send me something fun, but inappropriate,

I’ll say thank you and just enjoy privately• Also, lots of fun stuff on http://people.physics.tamu.edu/toback/109/Video/

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Going Big – Chapter 2• You have to get started somewhere

• Start by looking at the various things in the universe –Go from sizes we know to the VERY big

• After that we’ll do the very small–Chapter 3



The Very Big: Why Start Here?• If we want to understand the universe and where it comes from (and what’s going to happen to it) we need to know:1.What’s in it2.What it’s made of

•Said differently, "What are we trying to explain?” or “If the Big Bang is the answer, what is the question”? – If we were detectives trying to

explain what happened, we’d need to gather evidence:

– What evidence do we gather by looking at the scene of the crime? 7



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Starting out…

10 centimeters, or 0.1 meters, or 10-1 meters.About 3 inches

Just starting out… A size we know: The nose in front of your face (well… someone’s face)



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Look from father away...

Moving out, but still staying at sizes we know and love

1 meter (or about 3 feet)



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Bigger still…

The Statue of Liberty in New York

10 meters (or about 30 feet)



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Keep going…

100 meters or about a football field, or 102 meters



Prep for Lecture 2 Pop QuizThe in-class quiz at the beginning of the next class on will contain at least two of the following questions:•Why are you taking this class? •What do you most want to learn about?–Be prepared to answer these two honestly (there are no right answers, and don’t tell me what you think I want to hear)

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Prep For Next Time – L2If you just joined the class, welcome. Send me an email if you need an extension

• Reading (If you haven’t already): – Required: BBBHNM: Chapter 1-4– Recommended: (BHOT: Chap. 1-3, SHU: Chap. 1-2, TOE: Chap. 1)

• eCampus Stuff:– Warm-up Quizzes 1 & 2: Due before next class (Friday)– Extensions granted if needed. Email 109help– If you need additional attempts, follow the instructions or fill out the

worksheet• http://people.physics.tamu.edu/toback/109/RequestingAttemptsWorksheet.

xlsx• How to get to your old submission information

http://people.physics.tamu.edu/toback/109/ECampus_Quiz_Instructions_and_Help.pdf#page=3

– If we finished Chapter 2 then End-of-Chapter quiz 2 (else just above)• Pre-Lecture Reading Questions:

– Unit 1 Quiz: Due before next class (Friday)– Extensions granted if needed. Email 109help



Useful Links• Course Websitehttp://people.physics.tamu.edu/toback/109• Course Organizationhttp://people.physics.tamu.edu/toback/109/CourseOrganization.pdf• Class Schedulehttp://people.physics.tamu.edu/toback/109/ClassSchedule.pdf• eCampus Instructionshttp://people.physics.tamu.edu/toback/109/ECampus_Quiz_Instructions_and_Help.pdf

• PLRQ Instructionshttp://people.physics.tamu.edu/toback/109/PLRQ_Guidelines.pdf• Lecture Noteshttp://people.physics.tamu.edu/toback/109/Lectures/• Papers and Peerceptivhttp://people.physics.tamu.edu/toback/109/WritingAssignments/Papers_and_Peerceptiv.pdf

• FAQ Pagehttp://people.physics.tamu.edu/toback/109/109FAQ.shtml

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Full Set of Readings So Far•Required: BBBHNM: Chap 1-4•Recommended:–BHOT: Chap. 1-3–SHU: Chap. 1-2–TOE: Chap. 1

biggg, bang, black holes, no math

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