Question

At first glance, it may seem that living systems are able to defy the second law of thermodynamics. However, on closer examination it becomes clear that although cells create organization from raw materials in the environment, they also contribute to disorder in the environment by releasing _____________.

Answer 1

At first glance, it may seem that living systems are able to defy the second law of thermodynamics. However, on closer examination it becomes clear that although cells create organization from raw materials in the environment, they also contribute to disorder in the environment by releasing _____________.

(a) water.

(b) radiation.

(c) heat.

(d) proteins.

Answer:

(c) heat.

Explanation:

Cells appear not to follow the second law of thermodynamics as they tend to maintain homeostasis.  However, there is a release of heat during each process of the transformation of energy. This heat is an unusable form of energy and can not perform any productive task. The heat tends to increase the disorder of the system (here, the system is a cell) and thereby makes the cells to follow the second law of thermodynamics. For example, cellular respiration uses only a part of the energy of glucose to form ATP while a large fraction of the energy of glucose is released as heat.