Question

In a landfill, old biodegradable materials are breaking down while at the same time, new trash is being added daily. Which statement describes the relationship between a landfill and the mass of the Earth?
A.) The mass of the Earth increases and decreases depending on the amount of trash added to the landfill.

B.) The mass of the Earth decreases due to materials breaking down in the landfill.

C.) The mass of the Earth increases due to trash being added to the landfill.

D.) The mass of the Earth remains the same regardless of the amount of trash in the landfill.

Answer 1

Answer:

Ok, first, what is trash?

Trash can be different things, like organic stuff (remains of fruit or wood) or not-organic (like plastic)

Naturally, those things come from Earth, meaning that that:

The fruit is on Earth.

Someone eats the fruit

the rest is trowed in the trash

the trash is returned to some location on the Earth.

So the mass of the fruit is always in the Earth, this means that the mass of the Earth does not change by this process.

Now in the process of materials breaking down, those materials are being "absorbed" by the land, so the mass remains on the planet, this process also does not change the mass of the Earth.

D.) The mass of the Earth remains the same regardless of the amount of trash in the landfill.