Final answer:
The number of different proteins containing 100 amino acids that can be synthesized from the 20 naturally occurring amino acids is 20 to the power of 100, which represents an immense number of possible combinations.
Step-by-step explanation:
The number of different proteins containing 100 amino acids that can be made from the 20 naturally occurring amino acids is calculated by raising the number of amino acids (20) to the power of the number of positions in the protein chain (100).
This is because at each position in the protein, any of the 20 amino acids could be incorporated. Therefore, the number of different proteins is 20100, which is an incredibly large number and is virtually incomprehensible. Reflecting the vast diversity of proteins, even for a relatively small protein of 100 amino acids, the number of combinations is much larger than the number of atoms in the observable universe.