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Very Short Answer Questions · Q2

Q.Distinguish between growth in a living organism and growth in a non-living thing.

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[!ANSWER] Living growth happens from the inside (intussusception); non-living growth happens from the outside (accretion).

A living organism grows by increasing the number and mass of its own cells through cell division and cell enlargement. This new material is generated internally, using nutrients absorbed and metabolised by the organism itself, and as the organism grows its internal structure (tissues, organs) reorganises and develops further — a young animal's growth is accompanied by real developmental change, not just an increase in size.

A non-living object such as a crystal or a mineral deposit (e.g. a stalactite) can also increase in size over time, but this happens purely by the physical addition of matter to its outer surface from the surrounding environment — layer upon layer is simply deposited on top of what is already there. There is no internal chemical transformation, no cellular division, and no change in the object's basic internal organisation; it is a passive, external process rather than an active, internally driven one.

This internal-versus-external distinction is why growth, taken together with metabolism, is used as a practical test to separate a living organism from a non-living object that might otherwise appear to "grow".

[!ANSWER] Living organisms grow from within by intussusception (new cells added internally, with internal reorganisation); non-living things merely enlarge from outside by accretion (surface deposition, with no internal change).

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