Question

Suppose that an adult black bear adds 50 pounds of fat in order to survive while hibernating through the winter. how much glycogen would a bear have to add to achieve a similar feat?

Answer 1

Answer: The correct answer would be 112.5 pounds

Explanation:

Let us first covert the pound into grams. We know that 1 pound is equal to 453.59 grams.

Thus, 50 pound of fat = 50 x 453.59 = 22,679.5 grams.

We know that, 1 gram of fat releases 9 Kcal of energy. Thus, total energy produced by 22679.5 grams = 9 x 22679.5 = 204,115.5 Kcal

Glycogen is carbohydrate thus, it will produce 4 Kcal of energy per gram.

Thus, 4 x C = 204,115.5 (where C is the grams of glycogen)

⇒ C = $\frac{204115.5}{4}$

⇒ C = 51,028.875 grams

Using 1 pound = 453.59 grams, we con convert 51,028.875 grams into pounds:

453.59 = 1

1 = $\frac{1}{453.59}$

51,028.875 = $\frac{1}{453.59} x 51028.875$

= 112.5 pounds

Thus, 112.5 pound of glycogen would be needed to produce the same amount of energy as produced by 50 pounds of fat.