According to most theories about the evolution of early life on earth, the atmosphere had an abundance of ammonia, methane, and
carbon dioxide, shown above. Free energy from lightning could have allowed chemical reactions to occur that generated the precursors to life on earth. Which inorganic molecule(s) are accurately paired with their role in the formation of organic molecules necessary to life? A) Ammonia would have provided the nitrogen found in the amine groups of amino acid and the nitrogenous bases in DNA.
B) Methane would have provided the hydrogen to form water, a universal solvent for chemical reactions supporting life.
C) Ammonia would have provided the electrons to generate ATP using an electron transport chain within the mitochondria.
D) Carbon dioxide would have provided the oxygen needed to perform photosynthesis, resulting in the production of glucose.
<u>The presence of ammonia in the atmosphere of primitive earth provided the nitrogen found in the amine groups of amino acid and the nitrogenous bases in DNA. This has been proven through the simulation experiment of the primitive earth's atmosphere by Stanley Miller and Harold Urey.</u>
The water in the primitive atmosphere was formed from the condensation of water vapour from volcanoes that were characterics of the earth's environment while oxygen in itself is not needed for photosynthesis but a by-product of it.
