Concept explainers
How did Miller’s classic experiment relate to the origin of life?
To explain: The way in which the classic experiment by Miller relates to the origin of life.
Introduction: In 1953, Scientist Stanley Miller and Harold Urey set up an experiment with conditions resembling those present on the early Earth. The possibility of organic compound formation was investigated under simulated conditions in this experiment.
Explanation of Solution
Organic molecules were synthesized from inorganic molecules in the classic experiment of by two scientists Harold Urey and Stanley Miller. They used a mixture of gases such as hydrogen, methane, ammonia, and water vapor in his experiment and passed sparks through this mixture of gases. This experiment is commonly known as Urey-Miller experiment. A number of compounds were identified in the mixture; many of them were found to be organic compounds. The result of the classic experiment denotes the formation of macromolecules from micromolecules.
In Urey–Miller experiment, organic molecules, such as amino acids from nitrogen, carbon, oxygen, and other inorganic elements were synthesized. This simulated the physical and chemical conditions at the time of origin of life billions of years ago.
Want to see more full solutions like this?
Chapter 4 Solutions
Study Guide for Campbell Biology
- There was a series of important experiments that were meant to recreate the conditions of Earth when life originated. What were these experiments named? O Miller-Urey experiments Stern-Gerlach experiments Sagan-Newton experiments Darwin-Gould experiments Michaelson-Morley experiments OOOO0arrow_forwardWhat is the essential feature of science that makes it different from other ways of understanding the natural world?arrow_forwardAre there any similarities today between those who challenge modern scientific discoveries and those that challenged scientific discoveries hundreds of years ago? What may be the causes of disbelief in science?arrow_forward
- Discuss the hypothesis of Alexander Oparin and John B.S. Haldane about how living matter came to be.arrow_forwardWhat experimentation has been done on finding the source or raw material for the first life on earth? WhT has been discovered and by who?arrow_forwardBased on the Origin of Life by John H. McClendon, which of theories is most plausible?arrow_forward