Why does an organism need energy and a constant supply of materials?
1 Answer
They are needed to replenish the ones that were used up in the process of existence.
Explanation:
Unlike inorganic materials like rocks and individual chemical compounds, "organisms" are things that grow or maintain a state of existence my obtaining energy from external sources.
Without a constant replenishment of energy from any variety of sources, "organisms" will die, or cease to function, returning to the basic chemical compositions of their structures, and possibly becoming energy sources for other organisms.
The Second Law of Thermodynamics is summarized by "Entropy (disorder) is ALWAYS increasing". The only way to create or maintain an area of higher order is to create corresponding disorder somewhere else. Thus, living organisms, as quite complex and highly ordered assemblies of chemicals, must constantly create disorder by using energy and materials from other sources.
