Answer:
Primary consumer = 100kcal
Secondary consumer = 10kcal
Tertiary consumer = 1kcal
Explanation:
In a food chain, transfer of energy occurs when one organism feeds on another organism. However, only 10% of energy is transferred from one organism to another because energy is lost as heat when the organisms perform metabolism.
In a typical food chain consisting of a producer, a primary (1st), secondary (2nd) and tertiary (3rd) consumer, if there are 1000 kcal of energy available in the producer, then:
- Primary consumer will obtain; 10% of 1000Kcal
10/100 × 1000
Primary consumer = 100kcal of energy.
- Secondary consumer will obtain as follows; 10% of 100kcal available energy
= 10/100 × 100
Secondary consumer = 10Kcal of energy.
- Tertiary consumer will obtain as follows; 10% of 10Kcal of available energy.
= 10/100 × 10
Tertiary consumer = 1 kcal of energy.