Neco 2018 Biology Question 42

A desert rodent has a body mass of 150\ g and is approximated as a sphere. Its basal metabolic rate (BMR) follows \(\text{BMR}=70\,M^{0.75}\)\ kJ\ day\(^{-1}\) where \(M\) is in kilograms. Metabolic oxidation yields 0.6\ g of water per kJ. The rodent loses water through respiration equal to 30\% of the water produced metabolically, and through cutaneous evaporation at a rate of \(0.05\ \text{g\ cm}^{-2}\text{day}^{-1}\) for naked skin. Its fur reduces cutaneous loss by a factor of 0.4. Assuming body density of \(1\ \text{g\ cm}^{-3}\), calculate the net daily water balance (in grams) for the furred rodent and state whether it can maintain water balance (net ≥ 0).