The amount of matter in the Earth system remains constant over time. The forms and locations of the matter stored within the system, however, change continually as it cycles through the Earth.

Matter can be transferred between which of the following elements of the Earth system?

Question 9 options:

from the physical environment to living organisms

from one living organism to another living organism

from living organisms to the physical environment

all of these

The correct answer is all of these.

Matter and energy on Earth are never destroyed or created out of nothing, but just transferred or converted to another form.

The inorganic matter is transferred to the living things from the physical environment by many biological processes like photosynthesis (CO2), nitrogen fixation, absorption of the minerals by plant roots and many more.

Matter can then be transferred between different organisms through the food chain.

Eventually, the matter will return to the physical environment when organisms decompose and the cycle will start again.