In this task, you are given a question and answer for that. The answer will fill in the blank or will complete the unfinished question. Your task is to provide an explanation based on the given question or fill-in-the-blank statement, and answer.

Question: Jeff is stopping exercising his muscles at home. Over time his muscles will grow 
 Answer: smaller
Muscles that are exercised are bigger and stronger than muscles that are not exercised.

Question: Dan is looking at shells that will be bad candidates for fossilization. He chooses the shells that are 
 Answer: softer
Hard shells fossilize more readily than soft bodied organisms, as they are better at resisting decay, take significantly longer to break down, and have a greater chance of surviving burial under layers of sediment.

Question: Letting a stretched a rubber band become looser _____ its elastic potential energy. 
 Answer: decreases

The farther the object is stretched or compressed, the greater its elastic potential energy is.