Question

In the following food chain, 5 J of energy is available to man. Calculate, how much energy was available at the producer level. Why?

Plant → Goat → Man

Answer 1

Energy available at the producer level = 500 J

According to the 10% law, only 10% of energy is transferred to the next trophic level.

Man gets = 5 J

So, Goat must have got = 50 J

And Plants (producers) must have had = 500 J

According to the 10% law of energy transfer, only 10% of energy passes from one trophic level to the next, while the rest is lost as heat during metabolic activities.