Photosynthesis Light Energy

Photosynthesis is simply a process to convert Carbon dioxide to organic compounds. In other words, it means conversion of light energy into chemical energy, which has particularly powerful sugar bonds. Plants need light energy, carbon dioxide and water to manufacture sugar. As such, the process of photosynthesis yields strong links of sugar.

Photosynthesis takes place in plants, algae and many spices of bacteria, and the process is made possible especially by the green pigment chlorophyll, found in the chloroplasts.

This process is vital for supporting life on the planet earth. For instance, to sustain the standard level of oxygen in the atmosphere, photosynthesis is a major contributor. Generally, almost all living things depend on this process.

Mostly, the process of photosynthesis takes place in plant leaves. The process does not occur in upper and lower epidermal cells because these areas do not have chloroplast. So they serve as principally as safeguard for the rest of the leaf. The vascular bundles or veins of a leaf are part of the plant's transportation system, and are useful for processes such as carrying nutrients and water to various parts of the plant.

Photosynthesis mainly takes place in mesophyll cells, because these cells contain chloroplast. The process may occur in different ways in different species. For example, while proteins are detained within organs in plants called chloroplasts, in bacteria they are contained in the plasma membrane, as adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Some of the photosynthesis light energy gather by chlorophyll is stored, then the remaining energy used by the plant to convert carbon dioxide into organic compounds, through a sequence of reactions in plant, algae and cyanobacteria called calvin cycle.

At the time when a plant is exposed to light, carbon dioxide is absorbed by the plant and oxygen is expelled as a bye product. These gases enter the plant through the leaves. The combination of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen molecules chemically combine with the chlorophyll in the plant and simple sugars are produced in the process. Light is crucial to this process because the light serves as catalyst that ensures activation of chlorophyll, which is responsible for photosynthesis. Respiration can on the other hand be figuratively equated to the opposite of photosynthesis, where the plants break down food using oxygen, and energy is released in heat form. Carbon dioxide is also produced as a bye product, which is expelled along with the heat energy.

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