What was the importance of Stanley miller's apparatus?

Answer 1

In 1952 Stanley Miller and Harold Urey of the University of Chicago conducted experiments in possible chemistry of early earth. To determine how certain molecules needed for life could be formed.

The reaction vessel had a mixture of H2O,CH4,NH3,H2,N2,CO2, this was heated and an electric current, sparks, passed through it, to resemble lightning. It was allowed to run for one week, 2% of the reaction mixture was amino acids, 22 amino acids have been found. Some sugars and lipids are also formed. The reaction products are optical isomers the solution is racemic. The yields are low. Some people claim that the results support an abiogensis origin of life. It is not the preferred method of producing amino acids. One may wish to read up on "panspermia" , "abiogensis" and "origin of life" in a search engine.

Answer 2

Stanley Miller's apparatus, known as the Miller-Urey experiment, was important because it demonstrated that organic compounds, such as amino acids, could be synthesized from inorganic molecules under conditions that simulated the early Earth's atmosphere. The experiment provided evidence for the possibility of abiogenesis, the idea that life could arise from non-living matter through natural processes. This work contributed to our understanding of the origins of life on Earth.