1.1 Defining life as "a system that is energy utilizing, self-replicating, and
capable of Darwinian evolution" is internally redundant because - ANSWER a
system that is capable of Darwinian evolution is already defined as self-
replicating, and must be energy utilizing to affect its replication.
1.2 Science, like any discipline, is rooted in certain axiomatic assumptions. We
talked about several important "first principles" and one of them was: -
ANSWER Relational properties which give rise to cause and effect
1.3 A hypothesis must be capable of being - ANSWER experimentally tested
and invalidated.
1.4 The process of reasoning through linked consequential statements where a
conclusion is made based on assumed premises is called: - ANSWER
deduction
1.5 Evolution is fundamentally about the progression of lower life forms into
higher ones. - ANSWER False
1.6 The evolutionary model gives us - ANSWER a way of linking different
species through lineages developed by natural selection, a fundamentally
directionless process itself.
1.7 What are the main elements from which life is composed? - ANSWER
Nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and phosphorus
1.8 If two equally electronegative atoms are joined to form a molecule, then the
covalent bond that is formed will be - ANSWER nonpolar.
1.9 In an electrically neutral atom - ANSWER the number of electrons is the
same as the atomic number.
1.10 What are the mass numbers of C, H, N, O ? - ANSWER 12, 1, 14, 16
, 2.1 Why are atoms so small? - ANSWER To get the same level of constancy
of outputs from biological systems with constituent parts larger than atoms
would require an astronomical size for living things. This size would be
disproportionate to the size of the environment and the parts that make up the
system would be incapable of random (diffusive) movement.
Atoms are the inputs for the Square Root of n Law, so actual error associated
with a response gets smaller as n gets larger. The smallness of atoms at 10e-10
m permits billions of atoms to contribute to the n value.
If they were not small then the determinacy of biological activities would not be
continuously precise. Living things are great averaging machines that need a
very large 'n' to behave in a directed and predictable fashion.
2.2 In the first chapter of What is Life? Schrodinger suggests that life differs
from ordinary matter principally in its - ANSWER complexity
2.3 If a chemical reaction is reversible, then - ANSWER it must eventually
reach chemical equilibrium.
2.4 Consider the reversible following biological reaction:
A-P-P-P <======>A-P + P-P
If P-P is degraded to P + P in another reaction, then the original reaction above
will be driven toward the production of - ANSWER A-P + P-P
2.5 In Miller's experiment what conditions favor the formation of amino acids? -
ANSWER a reducing atmosphere
2.6 Miller has an unchecked assumption in his experiment for which he failed to
develop an appropriate control. His unguarded assumption is
_______________, and he could have used a control which_____________. -
ANSWER that the apparatus is sterile and stays sterile; checks for the presence
of microbes in the apparatus at the experiment's conclusion.
capable of Darwinian evolution" is internally redundant because - ANSWER a
system that is capable of Darwinian evolution is already defined as self-
replicating, and must be energy utilizing to affect its replication.
1.2 Science, like any discipline, is rooted in certain axiomatic assumptions. We
talked about several important "first principles" and one of them was: -
ANSWER Relational properties which give rise to cause and effect
1.3 A hypothesis must be capable of being - ANSWER experimentally tested
and invalidated.
1.4 The process of reasoning through linked consequential statements where a
conclusion is made based on assumed premises is called: - ANSWER
deduction
1.5 Evolution is fundamentally about the progression of lower life forms into
higher ones. - ANSWER False
1.6 The evolutionary model gives us - ANSWER a way of linking different
species through lineages developed by natural selection, a fundamentally
directionless process itself.
1.7 What are the main elements from which life is composed? - ANSWER
Nitrogen, carbon, hydrogen, oxygen, sulfur, and phosphorus
1.8 If two equally electronegative atoms are joined to form a molecule, then the
covalent bond that is formed will be - ANSWER nonpolar.
1.9 In an electrically neutral atom - ANSWER the number of electrons is the
same as the atomic number.
1.10 What are the mass numbers of C, H, N, O ? - ANSWER 12, 1, 14, 16
, 2.1 Why are atoms so small? - ANSWER To get the same level of constancy
of outputs from biological systems with constituent parts larger than atoms
would require an astronomical size for living things. This size would be
disproportionate to the size of the environment and the parts that make up the
system would be incapable of random (diffusive) movement.
Atoms are the inputs for the Square Root of n Law, so actual error associated
with a response gets smaller as n gets larger. The smallness of atoms at 10e-10
m permits billions of atoms to contribute to the n value.
If they were not small then the determinacy of biological activities would not be
continuously precise. Living things are great averaging machines that need a
very large 'n' to behave in a directed and predictable fashion.
2.2 In the first chapter of What is Life? Schrodinger suggests that life differs
from ordinary matter principally in its - ANSWER complexity
2.3 If a chemical reaction is reversible, then - ANSWER it must eventually
reach chemical equilibrium.
2.4 Consider the reversible following biological reaction:
A-P-P-P <======>A-P + P-P
If P-P is degraded to P + P in another reaction, then the original reaction above
will be driven toward the production of - ANSWER A-P + P-P
2.5 In Miller's experiment what conditions favor the formation of amino acids? -
ANSWER a reducing atmosphere
2.6 Miller has an unchecked assumption in his experiment for which he failed to
develop an appropriate control. His unguarded assumption is
_______________, and he could have used a control which_____________. -
ANSWER that the apparatus is sterile and stays sterile; checks for the presence
of microbes in the apparatus at the experiment's conclusion.
