The Cosmic Microwave Background is remarkable in many ways. Let's illustrate this by personalizing the CMB a bit. a) Imagine that the Earth is a sphere with a radius equal to its actual equatorial radius (The radius of Earth at the equator is 3,963 miles (6,378 kilometers). If the radius of the Earth is assumed to be constant to the same level of uniformity as the temperature fluctuations of the CMB—that is, to one part in 100,000—then how high would the highest mountains be relative to the mean surface radius of the Earth? b) Calculate the ratio of the age of the Universe when the CMB was created and the age of the Universe today (in late 2021). If a person is 20 years old, What was their age relative to their current age adopting that fraction? Give the result in hours.

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Chapter29: The Big Bang
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Problem 29E: There is still some uncertainty in the Hubble constant. (a) Current estimates range from about 19.9...
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38. The Cosmic Microwave Background is remarkable in many ways. Let's illustrate this by personalizing the CMB a bit.

 

a) Imagine that the Earth is a sphere with a radius equal to its actual equatorial radius (The radius of Earth at the equator is 3,963 miles (6,378 kilometers). If the radius of the Earth is assumed to be constant to the same level of uniformity as the temperature fluctuations of the CMB—that is, to one part in 100,000—then how high would the highest mountains be relative to the mean surface radius of the Earth?

 

b) Calculate the ratio of the age of the Universe when the CMB was created and the age of the Universe today (in late 2021). If a person is 20 years old, What was their age relative to their current age adopting that fraction? Give the result in hours.

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