Unit 6 Kognity Notes

C4.2.0-16 Transfers of Energy

Flow of Energy and Matter:

• Ecosystems are open systems

• They consist of multiple communities interacting with their non-living, or abiotic, environment

• Within an ecosystem, organisms transfer both energy and matter among themselves

Matter: anything that occupies space and has mass

• in context of ecosystems —> matter refers to nutrients, gases, and other substances that are essential for the functioning of living organisms

Energy: the ability to perform work or cause change

• in ecosystems —> energy is required for various biological processes, such as growth, reproduction, and movement

Thermodynamics: classifies systems into three types: open, closed, and isolated

• Open system: allows both energy and matter to be exchanged with its surroundings

• Ecosystems, such as tropical rainforests and grasslands, are examples of open systems due to the continuous inputs and outputs of energy and matter

• Thermodynamics is the study of energy transfers and transformations

• Isolated systems are ideal systems in which neither energy nor matter are exchanged with the surroundings

  • these systems do not naturally occur in our everyday environment