Complete Question:
The land on a 100-acre farm is equally suited for grazing cattle
and growing corn. Of the following ways of distributing land use,
which would produce the greatest number of calories for human
consumption?
a. 100 acres cattle; 0 acres corn
b. 80 acres cattle; 20 acres corn
c. 50 acres cattle; 50 acres corn
d. 20 acres cattle; 80 acres corn
e. 0 acres cattle; 100 acres corn
Answer: Option E (0 acres cattle; 100 acres cattle.
Explanation: The 0 acres cattle; 100 acres will produce the greatest number of calories for human consumption.
Following the second law of thermodynamics, which states that during energy transfer or transformation, more of it is lost to the extrinsic environment.
However, the amount of energy that reaches the earth’s crust is often used for evaporation of water, warmth and for production of food by plants. Green Plants (primary producer in the ecosystem) are only provided with 1
% of the total energy supplied by the sun.
Herbivores (cattle) feeds on green plants like corn for food (energy) and during the process of energy transfer and transformation, about 10% of the energy from the plant is acquired by the cattle. More energy is also lost through it’s biochemical activities by heat and the it’s feace and urine. Only few percentage of energy is stored in the tissues for the secondary consumer (human). Humans also acquires only few percentage of calories from the cattle and more heat is lost externally.
Thus, since humans are omnivores and can breakdown cellulose. More calories of energy is conserved when human feed on the plant (corn) directly.
Therefore, using the 100 acres of land for corn wil produce greatest number of calories for human consumption.
