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Living beings. It seems like a very broad concept, right? Could you define them? Perhaps, the beings that inhabit planet Earth? Well, don't 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 about 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, at Ecologista Verde we will explain it to you and we will tell you what is the difference between living beings and inert beings.
What are living beings
First of all, we can call living beings or biotic beings to those beings that meet certain characteristics that they must meet, which are the following:
- They are made up of cells, the minimum functional units of life. We can distinguish unicellular beings if they are made up of a single cell and multicellular beings if they are made up of more than one.
- They carry out the so-called “vital functions”, which are three: living beings feed (the breathing function is included in this), they interact and reproduce.
In addition to these vital functions the living beings develop a life cycle whereby:
- Are born. Living things come from other living things.
- I know they feed. Here is one of the vital functions. All living beings need to feed themselves to obtain nutrients with which to preserve and renew their body structures and also obtain energy to carry out the rest of the vital activities.
- They grow or they develop, increasing throughout their life in size or even radically changing their appearance as in the case of metamorphoses.
- I know relate to their environment and other beings through stimuli and responses. In this way, living beings are capable of being aware of what is happening around them, getting food or fleeing from dangerous situations.
- I know reproduce to give rise to similar living beings and transmit their genetic information to their offspring. Most living things need another individual to carry out reproduction.
- Die. The life of living beings is limited. Some have a longer life and others shorter and there are even some that are currently being investigated for their possible "immortality" due to 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 vegetable kingdom.
- Mushrooms.
- Monera (bacteria).
- Protista (protozoa, algae and others that cannot be classified in the rest of the kingdoms).
What are inert beings
The inert beings, "non-living" beings or abiotic beings are those that do not meet any of the characteristics previously described typical of living beings, such as, for example, the absence of movement, reproduction, metabolism, adaptation to the environment or death. For this reason, we must think that we know them as inert "beings" but perhaps it would not be the most correct term, because in the end they are materials, objects or elements, but not beings as they are not alive.
Inert beings also have different ways of classifying themselves. In the first place, they can be classified into two large groups: natural inert beings and artificial inert beings.
Inert natural beings
Natural inert beings are all those that are found, as their name suggests, naturally in nature. Some examples would be:
- Rocks
- Water.
- Air (atmosphere).
- Light.
- Minerals, such as calcium, phosphorus, magnesium, sodium, fluorine, 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 tissue. 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 gadgets that make our lives today easier. Some simple examples would be pens 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 essential, as 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 the one that classifies them into inert organic beings, those that are composed mainly of carbon and that come from living beings, such as leather; and inorganic, those that are predominantly composed of minerals.
Difference between living beings and inert beings: summary
At this point we already know what living beings and inert beings are, and therefore their main differences. In this section we will carry out a small summary of these differences commented throughout the article.
The living beings:
- They are made up of cells and perform the 3 vital functions of food and respiration, relationship and reproduction.
- They follow a life cycle by which they are born, feed, grow, interact, reproduce and finally die.
- They are classified into 5 kingdoms: Animal, Vegetable, Fungus, Protista and Monera.
The Inert beings They include all those objects that lack life and do not meet the characteristics of living beings.
- They are not made up of cells and do not have a life of their own.
- They do not perform the vital functions of living beings or their life cycles: they are not born, feed, grow, interact, 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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