Living beings. It seems a very broad concept, right? Would you know how to define them? Maybe the beings that inhabit the planet Earth? Well, do not worry if you can’t think of anything, because later we will explain what they are and their main characteristics. However, as usual, we seem to forget everything else that exists on the planet that does not concern us. Like living beings, our planet is inhabited by inert beings. Don’t you know what they are? Do not worry, in ecology, we explain it to you and we tell you What is the difference between living beings and inert beings.
What are living beings
First, we can call living beings or biotic beings to those beings that gather certain characteristics that must be met, which are the following:
- They are formed by cells, the minimum functional life units. We can distinguish unicellular beings if they are composed of a single cell and multicellular beings if they are formed by more than one.
- They perform the so -called “vital functions”, which are three: living beings feed (the breathing function is included in it), they relate and reproduce.
In addition to these vital functions the living beings develop a life cycle by which:
- They are born. Living beings come from other living beings.
- HE feed. Here is one of the vital functions. All living beings need to feed to achieve nutrients with which to conserve and renew their body structures and also obtain energy to carry out the rest of the rest of vital activities.
- Grow or develop, increasing throughout their lives in size or even changing radically appearance as in the case of metamorphosis.
- HE relate to their environment and other beings through stimuli and responses. In this way, living beings are able to be aware of what happens around them, get food or undertake the flight in dangerous situations,
- HE reproduce to give rise to similar living beings and transmit their genetic information to their offspring. Most living beings need another individual to carry out reproduction.
- They die. The life of living beings is limited. Some have a longer and more short life and there are even some that are investigated today their possible “immortality” for their capacity for cell regeneration, such as jellyfish (in the case of not being hunted by a predator).
The great diversity of living beings It is classified in 5 great kingdoms:
- The animal kingdom.
- The plant kingdom.
- Fungus.
- Monera (bacteria).
- Protist (protozoa, algae and others that cannot be classified in the rest of the kingdoms).
What are inert beings
The inert beings, “not alive” beings or abiotic beings They are those that do not meet any of the characteristics described above of living beings, such as the absence of movement, reproduction, metabolism, adaptation to the environment or death. For this reason, we must think that we know them as “beings” inert but perhaps it would not be the most correct term, because in the end they are materials, objects or elements, but not beings by not being alive.
Inert beings also have different ways of classifying. First, they can be classified into two large groups: natural inert beings and artificial inert beings.
Natural inert beings
Natural inert beings are all those who are, as their name indicates, naturally in nature. Some examples would be:
- Rocks
- Water.
- Air (atmosphere).
- Light.
- Minerals, such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, fluoride or iodine.
- Sand.
- Cut wood. It should be clarified that when we talk about the wood of the tree (trunk, branches and roots), while it is still alive, then the wood is a part of a living being, so it is living woven. On the other hand, once the wood is cut, it ceases to be part of a living being and becomes an inert element.
- Fire.
- Metals
Artificial inert beings
On the other hand, artificial inert beings are those whose origin is in the action of man, that is, that the human being has manufactured them. This group includes all those devices that make our current lives easier. Some simple examples would be Pen and paper or computers.
Although these inert beings may seem to be in the background with respect to living beings, the truth is that for their existence inert beings are essentialas is the clear example of water or air. That is, many of them are of vital importance for living beings to perform their own vital functions.
There is another possible classification for inert beings, and it is one that classifies them into organic inert beings, those that are mainly composed of carbon and that come from living beings, such as leather; and inorganic, those that are composed predominantly by minerals.
Difference between living beings and inert beings: summary
At this point we know what living beings and inert beings are, and therefore their main differences. In this section we will make a small Summary of these differences commented throughout the article.
The living beings:
- They are formed by cells and perform the 3 vital functions of food and breathing, relationship and reproduction.
- They follow a life cycle for which they are born, feed, grow, relate, reproduce and finally die.
- They are classified into 5 kingdoms: animal, vegetable, fungus, protist and Monera.
The inert beings They encompass all those objects that lack life and do not meet the characteristics of living beings.
- They are not formed by cells or have their own life.
- They do not perform the vital functions of living beings or their life cycles: they are not born, feed, grow, relate, reproduce or die.
- They can be classified as natural, present in nature such as rocks, water, air, rivers, mountains, etc., and artificial, created by man (paper, pens, tables, chairs, cars …). They can also be classified as organic, if they are predominantly composed of carbon and inorganic, composed of minerals.
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