Chemistry and Physics - did all elements exist at the beginning?

[lightbulb27]

I'm trying to understand the universe and it's beginning. In Chemistry, there is a periodic table of elements. Apparently... Im assuming, we cannot turn silver into gold and platinum into iron. They are fundamental elements... assumption.

So does that mean all these elements existed at the beginning (at the big bang) in some quantity and over time, just ended up on planet Earth.

Or are the elements formed out of... some other processes, like heat and are made out of each other?

I don't know the answer as I know very little about Chemistry... the universe and everything else.

My personal assumption is... all this stuff was "made" out of something else with enough heat.

[normalice]

You can turn elements into other elements with nuclear fusion or fission. It's just that the energy requirements are usually pretty massive. Indeed, the sun is an ongoing fusion reaction, turning hydrogen into helium by compressing them with so much gravity and pressure that the nuclei ram into each other. And fortunately for us the process is exothermic (meaning it gives off the energy - in particular the energy we use to survive) but it requires massive energy to initiate that process- something the sun does naturally with its own gravity. There are people trying to do that here on earth, but we don't have near the gravity so we pour lots of energy into smashing hydrogen atoms together and haven't really yet managed to get more out than we put it, due to the inefficiencies of the systems we have that smash hydrogen atoms together.

Mind, this isn't the same as nuclear fission, which is the splitting of atoms. You can get energy from that as well, of course, but first you have to find an exothermic reaction and a material that can be split. We happen to have that with uranium - indeed it splits naturally. We have learned to speed up that process as well, creating heat for steam generators or even nuclear bombs.

But, the running theory, as I understand it, is everything was hydrogen at first. As stars were formed and collided with one another more exotic elements were fused together. Why everything was hydrogen is its own mystery, but if you start from there, the rest follows naturally.

[strateguy632]

pretty close to accuracy.

[lightbulb27]

that makes a lot of sense!

[strateguy632]

certainly not existed. no doubt. at the moment of big bang and even afterwards the density and heat were too much for nucleus so no helium nor hydrogen atoms only protons because not paired with an electron yet. protons could/ did exist not only subatomic particles.

according to astrophysics stars fused hydrogen into helium and heavier atoms.

those did not exist until stars fused the new heavier ones.

individual atoms can be changed from one element to another by adding a proton but a bar of "silver minus one" has many atoms to change so adding protons wouldn't generate a bar of silver.

fission splits nucleus of heavy atom into some lighter atoms. like a big cluster og grapes broken into smaller clusters.

note: in FISSION the energy released is FAR MORE than injected hence we produce nuclear power in controlled reactions, and very harmful bomb when uncontrolled chain reactions.

[strateguy632]

the opposite of "My personal assumption is... all this stuff was "made" out of something else with enough heat." heat prevented atoms not make. mass caused fusion to make elements from lighter elements. gravity is not a force as proven by light.

[msmissydc]

Not a chemist or physist just basic highschool level knowledge: Some elements on the periodic table are highly unstable so even if they would have existed they would need to reform anyway because they can't exists that long.
Also with the knowledge of how the periodic table works it is not impossible but highly unlikely that all elements existed because some of them are the result of nuclear fusion which happens in suns for example. Others are not found, to be existing in nature yet, and are as far as we know only able to exist if produced synthetical.
We dont know much about the big bang yet so no one can know for sure, but its more likely that over time most of them formed, while in the beginning there where much less or even none at all (singular protons and electrons). Obviously if that would be the case its an extremly short interval.

[lightbulb27]

good answer. thus it is possible and probable that elements were formed... from something else. at least possible.
I won't get into how the fundamental elements got there or protons and electrons... above my pay grade... and education:)

[OfDeath]

No, thats not how it works. At the big bang, a cosmic event which is believed to have occurred about 13.8 billion years ago, the only elements are thought to have been hydrogen and helium. The rest evolved through stellar processes over the subsequent billions of years.

[exitseven]

some elements decay and form other elements. When Uranium decays it becomes lead.

[MysticDevice]

Not all of them. Some can only be made as part of a supernova aftermath, and others are man-made.

[strateguy632]

the opposite because after super nova less mass together. the fusion is when concentrated mass. admittedly god doesn't need 400 million years to make a dog or a star to fuse lighter atoms into iron but maybe stars also generate iron.