What is a heterotroph?

Prepare for the Safe Drinking Water Act Test. Study with multiple choice questions and detailed explanations. Master water safety regulations and ensure public health. Ace your exam!

Multiple Choice

What is a heterotroph?

Heterotrophs are organisms that cannot make their own food from inorganic sources; they must obtain organic material by consuming other organisms or their byproducts. This means they rely on pre-formed organic compounds for energy and carbon, which includes animals, fungi, and many bacteria. In contrast to autotrophs like plants or algae that capture sunlight to build their own food, heterotrophs get their nutrition by feeding on others. The broad description is the best fit because it covers all ways heterotrophs obtain energy: herbivores, carnivores, and decomposers alike. Describing an organism as someone who makes their own food from the Sun is the opposite (autotroph). Describing only herbivores focuses on one feeding type, not the whole group. Describing feeding on dead matter points to decomposers, which is a valid subset but not the complete definition.

Heterotrophs are organisms that cannot make their own food from inorganic sources; they must obtain organic material by consuming other organisms or their byproducts. This means they rely on pre-formed organic compounds for energy and carbon, which includes animals, fungi, and many bacteria. In contrast to autotrophs like plants or algae that capture sunlight to build their own food, heterotrophs get their nutrition by feeding on others.

The broad description is the best fit because it covers all ways heterotrophs obtain energy: herbivores, carnivores, and decomposers alike. Describing an organism as someone who makes their own food from the Sun is the opposite (autotroph). Describing only herbivores focuses on one feeding type, not the whole group. Describing feeding on dead matter points to decomposers, which is a valid subset but not the complete definition.

More practice questions