How does a massive tree grow from a tiny seed if the tree is only absorbing nutrients from the soil and sunlight? Has a 20 foot oak tree removed its equivalent mass in nutrient matter from the world around it and replaced it with its own mass?

Question

How does a massive tree grow from a tiny seed if the tree is only absorbing nutrients from the soil and sunlight? Has a 20 foot oak tree removed its equivalent mass in nutrient matter from the world around it and replaced it with its own mass?

In: 8

Answer 1

>Has a 20 foot oak tree removed its equivalent mass in nutrient matter from the world around it and replaced it with its own mass?

Yes. This is how all organisms grow. We take in matter and turn it into parts of ourselves. Most of the dry mass of trees is carbon, which they get from absorbing carbon dioxide from the air.