Question

Your friend John is having trouble with his compost bin. The material in his

compost pile doesn’t seem to be decomposing well. You take a sample of the pile
and check for the presence of microorganisms under the microscope. You see that
there are indeed microorganisms; however, they don’t appear to be growing very
fast. John says that he regularly mixes his compost pile to expose it to oxygen but
has noticed the pile feels cold. What is the most likely explanation for this
problem? (1 point)
The compost pile contained incorrect amounts of "greens" and
"browns".
The compost pile was placed in the sunshine.
The compost pile was sufficiently moist.
The compost pile contained aerobic bacteria

Answer 1

[AI-generated answer — Bot GPT 3.5]

The most likely explanation for this problem is that the compost pile contained incorrect amounts of "greens" and "browns". This balance is essential for the successful decomposition of organic material in a compost pile. If there are not enough greens (nitrogen-rich materials) or browns (carbon-rich materials), the microorganisms responsible for breaking down the compost will not be able to effectively decompose the pile. This can lead to a slow decomposition process and a cold compost pile.