Final answer:
When a cow chews and swallows grass, Mechanical energy used in chewing transitions to Chemical energy during digestion, showing how living organisms depend on energy transformations.
Step-by-step explanation:
The energy transformations that occur when a cow chews and swallows grass are Mechanical to Chemical.
As the cow chews the grass, mechanical energy is used to physically break down the plant material. This is an example of mechanical digestion, which is a physical process. Next, as the grass is swallowed and enters the cow's digestive system, enzymes and other digestive juices begin to chemically break down the food. This is where chemical energy comes into play since chemical digestion involves the transformation of the chemical composition of food to facilitate nutrient absorption. The grass's stored chemical energy in the form of carbohydrates is then converted by the cow's digestive system to various forms of energy that the cow can use to live, grow, and produce milk.
These processes are integral to the conversion of energy within a living organism and highlight the importance of energy transformation in the diet of animals. In comparison, other examples of energy transformation include plants converting light energy into chemical energy through photosynthesis, and solar cells converting sunlight into electrical energy.