Where Does the First Second of the Universe Fall on the Time Line?

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The discussion explores the timeline of the universe, specifically the duration of the Planck Epoch, which ends at 10^-43 seconds after the Big Bang. A scale model is proposed where 1 cm represents the end of the Planck Epoch, illustrating that 1 second would extend to 10^43 cm, significantly longer than the observable universe's radius of approximately 10^28 cm. This comparison highlights the extreme brevity of the Planck Era in relation to the entire timeline of the universe. Participants express amazement at the vast difference in scale, emphasizing the significance of the Planck Epoch in cosmological studies. The conversation underscores the profound implications of such tiny time intervals in understanding the universe's origins.
flotsam
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I draw a straight line representing the time line of the universe. On this line I put a mark at 1cm and I say this represents the end of the Planck Epoch. So I can understand how tiny the Plank Epoch was, could someone tell me, how far along the line at this scale the first second of the universe would appear.
I imagine it would fall quite a distance along the line.
 
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The Planck epoch ends at 10-43 sec. after the big bang.
So if that time interval is represented by 1 cm. the line out to I second will be 1043 cms. long. Now OOM the Hubble radius, crudely the radius of the observable universe, is 1028 cms.

So your line will be 1015 times longer than the furthest distance we could possible see in the observable universe!

Does that give you an idea how short the Planck era is? :smile:

Garth
 
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Thanks for that. I never realized it would be that much! The Planck Epoch truly is tiny and amazing to contemplate.
 
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