Why does the energy pyramid get smaller when it gets to the top?

Question

The energy decreases as the pyramid goes up, and I want to know why?

Answer 1

It's because of the rule of 10%.  The organisms on the bottom are food for the organisms on top.  When an organism is eaten, only 10% of the potential energy is passed on to the predator, which means 90% of the energy is unusable.  This is because that 90% is already used by the prey and lost as heat.  That energy can never be returned, but thanks to autotrophs, the cycle continues.  As you go up the pyramid, each animal gets less energy from its prey so it has to eat a lot more (that explains why a lion must eat more than a human does).

Answer 2

there has something called 'entropy',you can check what this word means.

Answer 3

Other than because it's a perfect geometric shape, that it's more stable than it getting thicker as it goes up or the symbolism as both a primordial mound and the shape the rays of the sun take as they decent to earth?

All of the above. The sun one is because the pharaoh was the reborn earth-bound Ra, god of the sun.

Answer 4

good ?

Answer 5

because in each level of organisms (primary, tertiary, etc.) energy is lost as heat and has been utilized by that organism before another one eats it. and i believe only 10% of the energy from the level below goes to the level above. so that means if a plant has 100 Calories of energy, then its consumer will only obtain 10 Calories of energy eating that plant. and the organism that eats the primary consumer of the plant only gets 1 Calorie of energy. Therefore, as the energy pyramid builds up, the organisms on top need to consume more and more to have enough energy to sustain themselves.