Question

Why are there very few helium (and deuterium) nuclei a hundredth of a second after the big bang? Select all the statements that are both correct and relevant.

At this point in time there are so few protons in the universe that we can't create deuterium or helium.
	The temperature is so high that any created would quickly be destroyed in a collision
	Any created would quickly decay away
	Any created would be broken apart by high energy photons
	Lots of high energy collisions are happening which would break apart any that were created.
	The collisions are not of high enough energy to create any of them. There is no way to create any of them.
	At this point in time there are so few protons in the universe that we can't create deuterium or helium.
	At this point in time there are no free electrons to combine with protons.
	At this point in time there are not enough muons to create deuterium or helium.
	None of the above

Answer 1

Most relevant

At this point in time, there are so few protons in the universe that we can't create deuterium or helium.

Reason: The temperature at that time was more than 10 billion degrees, 1,000 times hotter than the center of the sun. And subatomic particles such as neutrons and protons constantly changed back and forth into one another.

Other relevant ones:

Any created would quickly decay away.

Any created would be broken apart by high energy photons.

The temperature is so high that any created would quickly be destroyed in a collision

Reason: As we know the temperature is a direct measure of the energy the particles are holding and the speed with they are moving. So even if a neutron finds 2 protons to make a deuterium nucleus. It will soon disintegrate either because of the sheer temperature of because of colling with another high energy subatomic particle.

I hope this answers your query.