INERT BEINGS: CHARACTERISTICS, EXAMPLES, DIFFERENCES WITH LIVING BEINGS - BIOLOGY - 2025

The nonliving things, also called abiotic beings are those inanimate objects or materials, whether natural or artificial. They are lifeless objects that are not born, nor die, nor establish relationships, nor adapt to the environment, nor feed or reproduce and are, therefore, inert.

Inert beings are a fundamental part of our planet and some are essential to maintain the life of living beings or biotic beings. For example, air, water, the sun, and many minerals are essential to sustain life for animals, microbes, and plants.

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Inanimate objects can be natural or artificial. The former are those that are found in nature and that are not manufactured by human beings; among them are water, sun, earth, stones, etc.

The second are those built by man like a pencil, a car, a house, a table, a sofa, etc.

Inert beings are not made up of cells, or fragments of them, like DNA or RNA. They can be of organic origin, that is, they can be made up of carbon atoms, or of inorganic origin, like many minerals, natural and / or artificial substances.

In summary, it can be said that inert beings are all those objects or substances that are on our planet or outside it and that do not have life.

But the word "being" is perhaps a bit confusing, since it is quite an anthropocentric term (related to man), so it is perhaps better to refer to inert beings as inert "entities" or "objects".

Characteristics of inert beings

Inert objects are characterized by not having life. In other words, they cannot fulfill any of the vital functions such as:

- Be born

- Feed

- Grow up

- Adapt

- Relate

- Reproduce and

- To die

They are not made up of cells

Interte beings are objects that are not made up of cells or parts of them; They are formed by carbonated structures or by inorganic elements that are found in nature or that man uses to make other inanimate objects.

Although man can manufacture and give rise to an inert object from another, these, by themselves, are not "generated" or "born". For example, a stone can be broken into many pieces by different environmental factors, but when these pieces come together they form the same original stone.

Do not move

Another characteristic of inert beings is the absence of their own movements. These only move if a thrust force is applied to them or by the movement generated by combustion with some type of fuel.

For example, the water itself does not move, but if there is a difference in height, the water will move from one point to another until that difference disappears.

Examples of inert beings

Inert objects, as mentioned, can be natural or artificial, depending on whether they are products of nature or man-made.

Natural inert objects

Among the natural inert objects are, for example, elements, molecules and structures such as:

- Water

- The light

- The atmosphere

- Sodium

- Potassium

- The calcium

- Magnesium

- The match

- The iron

- Sulfur

- Zinc

- The stones

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Among these objects we can highlight the importance of water for living beings, since it is familiar to all that this element makes up up to 70% of the body weight of a human being, for example.

All living things need water to keep the cells that compose them functioning. Man makes use of it not only to keep his body alive, but to obtain useful energy to carry out other activities that are proper to him in the context of civilization.

Artificial inert objects

When we refer to artificial inert objects, it usually has to do with those objects made by man, either through artisanal or industrial processes. Examples of these can be:

- A house

- A car

- A TV

- A computer

- A pencil

- One telephone

- A freeway

- A cup

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- Book

- A curtain

- A toothbrush

- A flower pot

- Notebook

- A bicycle

- A robot

Differences of inert beings with living beings

The differences of an inert object and a living being are not difficult to analyze, because at first glance it is easy to recognize a living being in front of a rock, for example.

Living things are made up of cells. These cells, in turn, are made up of molecules, which are made up of thousands of atoms of different chemical elements. In that, a living being resembles an inert object, since all matter is made up of atoms.

Cells, however, are organized molecularly in such a way that they can comply with the parameters that we know as characteristic of a living being. Among these characteristics of living beings are:

Are born

A cell always comes from another pre-existing cell that gives rise to it, either dividing in two (mitosis) or fusing with another to form a new cell that contains the mixture of genetic material from two independent cells.

Are reproduced

A living being can be formed by a single cell and this can reproduce to originate another equally independent cell. Multicellular living beings, in the same way, reproduce and leave offspring

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They feed

In order to survive in any environment, a living being must feed itself, either by synthesizing its own food (autotrophs) or acquiring energy from other living beings (heterotrophs)

They grow and are able to relate to the environment where they live, being able to adapt to it

This is particularly evident for many animals and plants, since it is not difficult to show, for example, that a seed germinates, gives rise to a seedling and this develops to form a tree or a bush. In addition, the tree thus formed has mechanisms that allow it to respond to changes in temperature and humidity in the environment where it lives.

Die

An inherent condition of all living beings is the eventual cessation of their existence, since sooner or later they die as a result of the interruption of the functions of their cells.

Inert objects are not made up of cells. These do not reproduce, do not grow, or feed, or interact with the environment that surrounds them.

The changes that can be observed in the structure or shape of an inert object, say a rock, are usually the product of the action of another element on them, but not of a “voluntary” event that implies modeling according to the changing conditions of the environment.

References

1. Clayden, J., Greeves, N., Warren, S., & Wothers, P. (2001). Organic chemistry.
2. Garrett, RH, & Grisham, CM (2001). Principles of biochemistry: with a human focus. Brooks / Cole Publishing Company.
3. Gleick, PH (1994). Water and energy. Annual Review of Energy and the environment, 19 (1), 267-299.
4. Merriam-Webster. (nd). Inert. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved March 31, 2020, from www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inert
5. Nelson, DL, & Cox, MM (2009). Lehninger principles of biochemistry (pp. 71-85). New York: WH Freeman.
6. Solomon, EP, Berg, LR, & Martin, DW (2011). Biology (9th edn). Brooks / Cole, Cengage Learning: USA.