The idea that this scientist is testing is that the
chemical building blocks of life could have come to
earth via a meteor. this kind of "educated guess" is
called a:

9.9 years

a = p(1 + rt) . . account balance after time t at rate r starting with principal p

3000 = 2500(1 + 0.0202t) . . filling in the given numbers

1.2 = 1 + 0.0202t . . divide by 2500

0.2 = 0.0202t . . . subtract 1

0.2/0.0202 = t ≈ 9.901

it will take about 9.9 years for the account balance to reach $3000.

small, big, or no change could occur in the phenotype. it could cause something as simple as a cats ears to curl backwards or something as frighting as death. it could also occur in the protien-coding area and have an effect on that but no effect on the amino acids. what has to occur is a changing in the hox gene or the control gene.

allowed for the prediction of the properties of missing elements.