As something grows like a tree or a person, where dose the extra matter come from?
In: Biology
A person: the food you eat becomes you
A tree: the tree takes up water and minerals from its roots and absorbs carbon dioxide through its leaves and those become tree
From the food eaten, water drank and air breathed.
Picture a lawn of grass. The matter used to make new grass was derived from;
1. Water the plant absorbed through its roots.
2. Micronutrients and trace minerals extracted from the soil.
3. More carbon extracted from carbon dioxide in the air, processed through photosynthesis
The grass uses the water, carbon dioxide and trace elements from soil, plus energy from sunlight, to create glucose, which it uses to grow. It also creates oxygen, which it releases as a byproduct (to the benefit of all creatures that breathe).
For humans, the process is fundamentally the same, but more complicated (and with no photosynthesis).
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