The Origin of Life

Spontaneous Generation
- is a hypothetical process that states life arose
from nonliving matter

Example:

frogs appeared to arise from damp earth

mice from putrefied matter
 insects from dew
 maggots from decaying meat.
 Louis Pasteur

- a French scientist that disproved

Spontaneous generation
- He convinced other scientists
that living organisms do not arise
spontaneously from nonliving
matter through an experiment
- Some scientist believed that all living
organisms share a common ancestor most
likely, a population of microorganisms that
lived almost 4 billion years ago

- This common ancestor was a product of a

long period of prebiotic assembly of nonliving
matter, including organic molecules and
water, to form self-replicating units.

- All living organisms retain a fundamental

chemical composition inherited from their
ancient common ancestor
The Chemistry of Life
INORGANIC COMPOUND
 Water and Life
Water is the most abundant
of all compounds in cells,
forming 60% to 90% of most
living organisms.
It has several unusual properties
that make it essential for life.
Hydrogen bonds lie behind
these important properties.
 The Properties of Water
 High specific heat capacity
- 1 calorie is required to elevate temperature of
1gram of water 1°C.
- Water’s high thermal capacity greatly
moderates environmental temperature changes,
thereby protecting living organisms from extreme
thermal fluctuation
 High heat of vaporization
- requires more than 500 calories to convert
1gram of liquid water to water vapor.

- For terrestrial organisms, cooling produced

by evaporation of water is important for expelling
excess heat.
 The Properties of Water

 Unique density
behavior
- while most liquids
become denser with
decreasing temperature,
water’s maximum
density is at 4°C.
 The Properties of Water
 High surface tension -
Hydrogen bonding among
water molecules produces a
cohesiveness important for
maintaining protoplasmic
form and movement.
 Low viscosity
- permitting movement of
blood through minute
capillaries and of cytoplasm
inside cellular boundaries.
 The Properties of Water
 Excellent solvent
– salts dissolve more in
water than in any other
solvent.
- The dipolar nature of
water produces this
property, which causes
water molecules to orient
around charged dissolved
particles
- Solvents lacking this
dipolar character are less
effective at keeping the ions
separated
 Chemical Reactions of Water in
Living Organisms

Hydrolysis
- occurs when
compounds are split into
smaller pieces by the
addition of a water
molecule.
Condensation
- occurs when larger
compounds are synthesized
from smaller compounds.