I am trying to settle an argument with this crazy guy at work.
2006-08-24 05:07:45 · 13 answers · asked by Daniel 2 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Chemistry
Everything is degradable to some point, but there's a lot of human manufactured items that are not BIOdegradable.
We must first make that little distinction, where biodegradable by definition is anything that can be broken by an organism, whichever it may be.
Plastics and glass for example cannot be broken down by any living organism, but natural geological processes and time will eventually gring these to atoms and voilá, degraded to its basic constitutents.
So no, not everything is biodegradable, but everything is degradable to some extent.
2006-08-24 05:23:39 · answer #1 · answered by flammable 5 · 1⤊ 0⤋
No, not everything is biodegradable. Anything that's of organic nature is biodegradable, meaning anything that has a molecule of carbon is biodegradable.
Biodegradable means it can be digested by the pedobacteria (bacteria of the soil). What does that mean? It means that it has to be food for the bacteria to ingest it. So if you have a sheet of metal that you bury under the ground it will never be gone because it's iron (assuming that it's pure iron), or aluminum, or any other metal.
So to summarize, not everything is biodegradable, such as metals in general aren't biodegradable.
On the other, the things that aren't biodegradable CAN also be degraded otherwise (like by natural physical reactions, erosion, volacanos, etc). Then again this is not BIOdegradable it's just degradable.
Good luck :)
2006-08-24 05:33:47 · answer #2 · answered by American Wildcat 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
No....the term biodegradable, means the material will degrade due to the natural biological action of the environment. Things like pvc, and Teflon, are not attactked by naturally occuring organisms.
2006-08-24 05:45:10 · answer #3 · answered by richard Alvarado 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The answer, no. Diamond is not bio-degradable. DDT so far is not bio-degradable
Are all organic matter biodegradable ? Not neccesarily.
The way I see it is that why would an organism "eats" a organic matter if it can not gets energy out of it.
In another word, if it takes more energy to break down an organic matter, it will left untouch as the organism try to eat the matter died of starvation.
Are all matter can be break down one way or another, yes, all matters can be break down, but it may not be bio-degradable.
2006-08-24 05:39:31 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Everything is *not* biodegradable. Living organisms cannot degrade everything...
...but everything is degradable. It may take thousands, millions of years...but physical processes (not biological ones) will degrade EVERYTHING.
2006-08-24 06:24:26 · answer #5 · answered by The ~Muffin~ Man 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes
2006-08-24 05:12:45 · answer #6 · answered by The Foosaaaah 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
with time everything will degrade, but it also takes heat and pressure, but then again if you look at landfills there's 30 year old food that's still whole...
2006-08-24 05:54:12 · answer #7 · answered by shiara_blade 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Eventually eveything will degrade. It might take a few thousand years, but it will happen eventually.
2006-08-24 05:12:43 · answer #8 · answered by boukenger 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
NO NOT EVERYTHING IS BIODEGRADABLE,, I THINK WE ARE SO LUCKY AS OUR UNIVERSE UNDER PERFECT BALANCE CONTROLLED BY THE CREATER ALLAH (GOD)
2006-08-24 08:22:39 · answer #9 · answered by source_of_love_69 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
no, if everything was crap would not be sitting in land fills for a life time
2006-08-24 05:15:07 · answer #10 · answered by Chell dog 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋