Answer:
See the answer below
Step-by-step explanation:
A researcher performed an experiment in which he exposed young corn plants to a harmless, radioactive form of carbon dioxide gas containing carbon-14 instead of carbon-12. he then began feeding corn produced by the plants to a small group of goats. after several weeks, the researcher took blood and tissue samples from the goats. he was able to detect increased concentrations of carbon-14 in the goats' lipids, proteins, carbohydrates, and dna. which statement best explains the researcher's findings?
a. uptake of radioactive carbon dioxide gas caused carbon atoms to be found in places they wouldn't normally be found.
b. carbon atoms found in the sugar molecules of the corn were used by the goats' bodies to form other large molecules.
c. like the corn plants, the goats experienced prolonged exposure to carbon dioxide gas containing carbon-14.
d. eating corn containing radioactive carbon-14 caused many of the goats' other carbon atoms to become radioactive.
The correct answer here would be that the carbon atoms found in the sugar molecules of the corn were used by the goats' bodies to form other large molecules.
This is usually what happens when organisms feed on nutrient-containing substances. The nutrients are extracted during digestion and are utilized in the anabolic processing of important biomolecules in the body of the organism.
Carbon is an important element in all biomolecules of life such as lipids, proteins, nucleic acids, etc. and as such, the carbon present in the corn consumed by the goats must have been used to form some of these molecules in the bodies of the goats.
The correct option is b.