How do plants and animals grow if no new matter is added to the system?

Plants absorbs the sunlight and do photosynthesis, then they serve as food for the rest of species, which absorbs a part of that stored energy by metabolic processes.

According to the First Law of Thermodynamics, energy cannot be created nor destroyed, only transformed, and by the Second Law of Thermodynamics, that processes in nature have a direction, in which irreversibilities go from places with high entropy and high temperatures to places with low entropy and low temperatures.

The earth is an example of a closed system, in which exists only energy transfer with the surroundings, the energy "source" is the Sun, which transfers energy to the planet in the form of radiation.

Algae, plants and some bacteria receive and absorb the energy via photosynthesis, transforms inorganic matter into organic matter and grow themselves and reproduce themselves. They serve as food to the rest of species, which obtains a part of this energy by metabolic processes. and these species grow themselves and reproduce themselves.

We kindly invite to see this question on metabolism: link

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