Question

the miller-urey experiment was carried out in 1952 by chemists stanley miller and harold urey. it sought to test whether the chemistry of earth’s early atmosphere could have generated chemicals necessary for life. in the experiment, a mix of simple gasses similar to earth’s early atmosphere was sealed in a glass container. sparks were then generated inside the container, simulating lightning. this process caused chemical reactions that produced the complex chemicals that would have been necessary for the first simple organisms to evolve.

according to the text, why was the miller-urey experiment important to questions about how life could have arisen on earth?
a the miller-urey experiment helped scientists discover which simple gasses earth’s early atmosphere was likely composed of.
b the miller-urey experiment converted nonliving chemicals into simple organisms using electricity.
c the miller-urey experiment demonstrated that conditions like those in earth’s early atmosphere could produce the chemicals necessary for life.
d the miller-urey experiment showed that the first simple organisms could arise directly from gasses like those found in earth’s early atmosphere.

Explanation:

The text states the experiment tested if Earth's early atmosphere could generate life-necessary chemicals, via sparks simulating lightning, producing complex chemicals for early organisms. Option C matches this core finding: the experiment showed early atmospheric conditions could produce life-essential chemicals. Option A is incorrect as the experiment didn't focus on discovering the atmosphere's gas composition. Option B is wrong because it converted simple gases to complex chemicals, not nonliving chemicals to organisms. Option D is incorrect as it didn't show organisms arose directly from the gases, only that necessary chemicals could form.

Answer:

C. The Miller-Urey experiment demonstrated that conditions like those in Earth's early atmosphere could produce the chemicals necessary for life.