AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -The influential Miller-Urey experiment showed that with just water, ammonia, hydrogen and methane – and electric sparks to mimic lightning – you could form several of the protein precursors necessary for life on Earth. Stanley Miller and Harold Urey’s aim was to recreate the chemical conditions of early Earth.

Detailed explanation-2: -In addition to the sulfur-containing organic compounds, Miller’s unreported 1958 H2S experiment also generated amino acids such as threonine, leucine, and isoleucine, which were not detected in the other three discharge experiments. Fig.

Detailed explanation-3: -Miller mixed four simple chemicals in glass tubes, which were heated and shocked with electrical sparks to mimic lightning. The experiment made several amino acids, the building blocks of proteins. The Miller-Urey experiment showed that the chemicals of life could form naturally.

Detailed explanation-4: -The Miller–Urey experiment provided the first experimental evidence for the “primordial soup” hypothesis-the idea that simple organic compounds, formed when energy triggered chemical reactions in the atmosphere, accumulated in a “soup” such as in oceans or ponds.