Question

Maintenance of a favorable internal environment of the living being is called
(a) Homeostasis
(b) Metabolism
(c) Adaption
(d) Irritability

Answer 1

Maintenance of a constant internal environment inside the body allows an organism to function at its maximal efficiency because the metabolism will not be affected by the change in the outer environment. But it is a very energy-demanding process and thus, not everyone can do it.

Complete Step by Step Answer:
The maintenance of a favorable internal environment of a living being is called Homeostasis. This is done to keep the internal environment at the stage where all the biochemical reactions and physiological functions occur at their peak. This allows the organism to perform and survive better.
There are 3 types of organisms on the basis of whether they can regulate their internal environment or not.
Conformers: The organism that cannot maintain a constant internal environment are known as conformers. Nearly 99% of all plants and animals are conformers.
Regulators: The organisms that are able to regulate their internal environment be it the temperature of osmotic concentration are known as regulators. Mammals are a good example of this.
Partial regulators: These organisms are capable of maintaining their internal environment as long as the external environmental conditions are in a particular range. If the conditions exceed that range, they conform.
So, the correct option is ‘(a) Homeostasis’.

Note:
- Humans regulate their body temperature by sweating profusely when the outside temperature is too hot and shivering when the temperature is too cold.
- Sweat evaporates thus cooling the body and shiver is a kind of exercise by which heat is released and thus our body temperature is raised.
- Desert lizards maintain their temperature by basking in the sun when it is too cold and moving to shade when it is too hot.