What are the differences between living things and non living things?

Answer 1

Living things have a specific pattern, or information content, which they reproduce. Life on Earth is based on nucleic acids which contain the information upon which an organism is based, but in theory there could be other ways of doing this. There are non living systems which have some reproductive capability, for example fire, which is capable in the right circumstances of spreading, and causing more fire, however there is no information involved, it is a chaotic system. Only life combines information and reproduction. You might also argue (if you were in an argumentative mood) that a CD contains information and can also be copied, however, it takes a living person to decide to copy a CD; they don't act on their own.

Some non living things can be once alive and never alive.Example like Book and Pillow they are once alive because the paper in the book is made of trees that are alive and the pillow was once alive because the feather in the pillow was made by the duck or swans feather. Examples of never alive things like fan and television.

Living things have to fit a bunch of criteria: * growth - living things grow * movement - living things move around (note that growth counts as movement) * responds to environmental changes - living things behave differently in different environments * reproduction - living things can make more of themselves * in-take - living things take in energy from somewhere * out-put - living things excrete waste materials * made of cells - living things are made up of tiny chambers called cells Non-living things don't need to satisfy any of these criteria, but sometimes they fit a few. For example, a fire moves and grows as it spreads, but it's not made of cells, so it's not living.

They differ in the method of movement. While living things move by using energy, nonliving things move by water, wind, or any other methods of transportation. Nonliving things cannot utilize energy to move.

Living things eat (assimilate non identical materials), grow, and reproduce.

Non living things don't.

There are 9 characteristics for something to be considered "living".

M- movement

R.- reproduction

M- made of cells

U- use of energy

G- growth

R- respond to stimuli

E- exchange of gases

E- excretion's (poo)

L- limited life span

There are a few main requirements for something to be living.

Firstly (and possibly most importantly) the object in question needs the ability to grow and reproduce itself. Bacteria can split into two copies, most animals have sex to produce offspring, plants can do the same or have cuttings grow into new individuals et cetera. It follows from this that living things are subject to selective processes such as natural selection, sexual selection and artificial selection.

The capacity to undergo metabolic processes. That is, they can break down large compounds into smaller ones, and can build up large molecules from smaller subunits.

Living things can maintain a stable internal environment (homeostasis) favourable for survival.

Living things respond to stimuli. Humans can respond to sights, sounds, and touch. Simpler organisms (as well as the more complex) can respond to changing pH conditions, changing temperature and receive intercellular signals from other organisms.

Note that there is little consensus on the definition of life itself. This is just a commonly agreed upon definition. This particular definition happens to exclude viruses (reproduces, is subject to natural selection, but does not metabolise or have any state of homeostasis to speak of).

Answer 2

Living things are capable of growth, reproduction, responding to stimuli, and maintaining homeostasis. They also possess cellular organization and metabolism. Non-living things do not exhibit these characteristics and do not have the ability to grow or reproduce.

Answer 3

living things are things that can produce and can consume. Nonliving things can not consume, nor produce.