Question

By discharging electric sparks into a laboratory chamber atmosphere that consisted of water vapor, hydrogen gas, methane, and ammonia, Stanley Miller obtained data that showed that a number of organic molecules, including many amino acids, could be synthesized. Miller was attempting to model early Earth conditions as understood in the 1950s. The results of Miller's experiments best support which of the following hypotheses?

(A) The molecules essential to life today did not exist at the time Earth was first formed.
(B) The molecules essential to life today could not have been carried to the primordial Earth by a comet or meteorite.
(C) The molecules essential to life today could have formed under early Earth conditions.
(D) The molecules essential to life today were initially self- replicating proteins that were synthesized approximately four billion years ago.

Answer 1

(C) The molecules essential to life today could have formed under early Earth conditions.

Step-by-step explanation:

The results of Miller's experiments better support the hypothesis that molecules essential for life today could have formed under early Earth conditions. That's because Miller, in his hope, created an environment very similar to primitive earth. This environment consisted of water vapor, hydrogen gas, methane and ammonia, but this environment was able to synthesize organic molecules after receiving a discharge of electric sparks, which can be seen in the theory that explains the origin of life on earth.

The earth's atmosphere had a different composition from today. It is believed to be composed of methane, ammonia, hydrogen and water vapor. Strong lightning strikes and sun-radiated ultraviolet rays would have promoted a wide variety of chemical reactions in the atmosphere, leading to the emergence, among others, of simple organic molecules such as alcohols, amino acids and sugars.