Miller-Urey Experiment GCSE Chemistry Unit 1

Amino acids make up the molecules that make up living things.

Most amino acids contain:

• Hydrogen
• Carbon
• Nitrogen
• Oxygen

Miller and Urey tried to recreate the Earth's early conditions to see if amino acids could be created.

To model the early atmosphere, they used a mixture of:

• Water (H2O)
• Amonia (NH3)
• Methane (CH4)
• Hydrogen (H2)

Under normal conditions these gases do not react, so they used a high voltage spark to stimulate the energy transferred from a lightening bolt.

After a week, they found 11 amino acids in the mixture.

This provided evidence that it was possible the early life molecules were formed from the gases in the Earth's early atmosphere.