Question

Many chemists agreed that Jagendorf's acid-bath experiments showed how an imbalance of protons could produce ATP. But they did not agree that it was necessary. How might they have argued this?

Answer 1

Argument : it was not necessary that naturally the mechanism shown in Jagendorf's acid-bath experiments is used for the production of ATP ,because the experiment was done in dark which indicates that chloroplast has not utilized light energy( as in experiment chloroplast was incubated in an acid bath leading to saturation of the protons extracellurly as well as intracellularly) .

But in nature there is presence of light ,hence their must be some other factor present which must be causing the imbalance in presence of light also or any other mechanism is guiding the ATP production process ,so this Jagendorf's acid-bath experiments was to create imbalance artificially and in was in specific condition i.e dark.