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    The Importance of Photosynthesis

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    samahase
    Photosynthesis is the only biological process that converts light energy from the sun into chemical energy in the form of sugars and other molecules. This chemical energy is then used by plants for their metabolic processes and also provides the stored energy in food that is accessed by other organisms. During photosynthesis, chloroplasts in plant leaves capture sunlight and use it to energize electrons that are stored in carbohydrate molecules. The stable covalent bonds in these carbohydrates can store the solar energy for very long periods, as evidenced by the energy still being released from fossil fuels formed hundreds of millions of years ago. Photosynthesis is vital because it evolved to efficiently store solar energy in the bonds of carbohydrates, powering almost all Earth's ecosystems.

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    The Importance of Photosynthesis

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    samahase
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    Photosynthesis is the only biological process that converts light energy from the sun into chemical energy in the form of sugars and other molecules. This chemical energy is then used by plants for their metabolic processes and also provides the stored energy in food that is accessed by other organisms. During photosynthesis, chloroplasts in plant leaves capture sunlight and use it to energize electrons that are stored in carbohydrate molecules. The stable covalent bonds in these carbohydrates can store the solar energy for very long periods, as evidenced by the energy still being released from fossil fuels formed hundreds of millions of years ago. Photosynthesis is vital because it evolved to efficiently store solar energy in the bonds of carbohydrates, powering almost all Earth's ecosystems.

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    Photosynthesis is the only biological process that converts light energy from the sun into chemical energy in the form of sugars and other molecules. This chemical energy is then used by plants for their metabolic processes and also provides the stored energy in food that is accessed by other organisms. During photosynthesis, chloroplasts in plant leaves capture sunlight and use it to energize electrons that are stored in carbohydrate molecules. The stable covalent bonds in these carbohydrates can store the solar energy for very long periods, as evidenced by the energy still being released from fossil fuels formed hundreds of millions of years ago. Photosynthesis is vital because it evolved to efficiently store solar energy in the bonds of carbohydrates, powering almost all Earth's ecosystems.

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    © All Rights Reserved
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    36 views2 pages

    The Importance of Photosynthesis

    Uploaded by

    samahase
    Photosynthesis is the only biological process that converts light energy from the sun into chemical energy in the form of sugars and other molecules. This chemical energy is then used by plants for their metabolic processes and also provides the stored energy in food that is accessed by other organisms. During photosynthesis, chloroplasts in plant leaves capture sunlight and use it to energize electrons that are stored in carbohydrate molecules. The stable covalent bonds in these carbohydrates can store the solar energy for very long periods, as evidenced by the energy still being released from fossil fuels formed hundreds of millions of years ago. Photosynthesis is vital because it evolved to efficiently store solar energy in the bonds of carbohydrates, powering almost all Earth's ecosystems.

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    The Importance of Photosynthesis

    The processes of all organisms—from bacteria to humans—require energy. To get this


    energy, many organisms access stored energy by eating food. Carnivores eat other
    animals and herbivores eat plants. But where does the stored energy in food originate?
    All of this energy can be traced back to the process of photosynthesis and light energy
    from the sun.

    Photosynthesis is essential to all life on earth. It is the only biological process that
    captures energy from outer space (sunlight) and converts it into chemical energy in the
    form of G3P (
    Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate) which in turn can be made into sugars and other
    molecular compounds. Plants use these compounds in all of their metabolic processes;
    plants do not need to consume other organisms for food because they build all the
    molecules they need. Unlike plants, animals need to consume other organisms to
    consume the molecules they need for their metabolic processes.

    The Process of Photosynthesis

    During photosynthesis, molecules in leaves capture sunlight and energize electrons,


    which are then stored in the covalent bonds of carbohydrate molecules. That energy
    within those covalent bonds will be released when they are broken during cell
    respiration. How long lasting and stable are those covalent bonds? The energy
    extracted today by the burning of coal and petroleum products represents sunlight
    energy captured and stored by photosynthesis almost 200 million years ago.

    Plants, algae, and a group of bacteria called cyanobacteria are the only organisms
    capable of performing photosynthesis. Because they use light to manufacture their own
    food, they are called photoautotrophs (“self-feeders using light”). Other organisms, such
    as animals, fungi, and most other bacteria, are termed heterotrophs (“other feeders”)
    because they must rely on the sugars produced by photosynthetic organisms for their
    energy needs. A third very interesting group of bacteria synthesize sugars, not by using
    sunlight’s energy, but by extracting energy from inorganic chemical compounds; hence,
    they are referred to as chemoautotrophs.

    The importance of photosynthesis is not just that it can capture sunlight’s energy. A
    lizard sunning itself on a cold day can use the sun’s energy to warm up. Photosynthesis
    is vital because it evolved as a way to store the energy in solar radiation (the “photo-”
    part) as high-energy electrons in the carbon-carbon bonds of carbohydrate molecules
    (the “-synthesis” part). Those carbohydrates are the energy source that heterotrophs
    use to power the synthesis of ATP via respiration. Therefore, photosynthesis powers 99
    percent of Earth’s ecosystems. When a top predator, such as a wolf, preys on a deer,
    the wolf is at the end of an energy path that went from nuclear reactions on the surface
    of the sun, to light, to photosynthesis, to vegetation, to deer, and finally to wolf.

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