Which statement explains how nutrients differ from matter?

Which statement explains how nutrients differ from matter?

• A. Matter can't be made, nutrients can
• B. Matter is never created, nutrients are always created
• C. Nutrients are never recycled
• D. Matter is energy, nutrients are matter

Answer: (A)

Nutrients are the substances living things need to grow, repair, and carry out life processes. They’re a specific type of matter—material that has mass and takes up space. The idea that nutrients can be made highlights that organisms can synthesize some nutrients themselves or obtain them from foods, rather than always requiring a preexisting form in the environment. In other words, nutrients are particular materials that life uses, and some of them can be produced by the organism, whereas matter in general is simply the physical stuff around us and follows the idea that it isn’t created from nothing in biological processes. The other statements misstate how nutrients and matter relate: nutrients aren’t always created, they can be recycled in ecosystems, and matter is not energy.

Nutrients are the substances living things need to grow, repair, and carry out life processes. They’re a specific type of matter—material that has mass and takes up space. The idea that nutrients can be made highlights that organisms can synthesize some nutrients themselves or obtain them from foods, rather than always requiring a preexisting form in the environment. In other words, nutrients are particular materials that life uses, and some of them can be produced by the organism, whereas matter in general is simply the physical stuff around us and follows the idea that it isn’t created from nothing in biological processes. The other statements misstate how nutrients and matter relate: nutrients aren’t always created, they can be recycled in ecosystems, and matter is not energy.