Process of Photosynthesis by Sujal Mirchandani

 Sujal Mirchandani

Process of Photosynthesis

Plants are a crucial part of the ecosystem because they provide us with oxygen, which we inhale to survive. How does this process exactly take place? We are going to go into detail about the process of photosynthesis to understand better how and where it takes place in a plant cell. But first, we have to know that the reactants of photosynthesis are carbon dioxide and water; which are the products of cellular respiration and the products are glucose and oxygen; which are the reactants of cellular respiration. Plants take in the waste from cellular respiration and convert it to the reactants. 

The steps of photosynthesis can be divided into two stages. The first stage is the light reactions, which use light energy from the sun and convert it to chemical energy. First, photosystem II absorbs light which excites electrons and causes energy to be transferred from molecule to molecule. Also, water molecules are split into hydrogen and oxygen ions and the oxygen molecules leave the cells through the stoma as a byproduct. Then, a primary electron acceptor catches the electrons and the electrons enter an electron transport chain to photosystem I. As the electrons pass through the electron transport chain, ATP is made through chemiosmosis. The same process takes place in photosystem I, with electrons finally entering a small transport chain that reduces NADP to NADPH. 

The next stage is the Calvin cycle, where carbon dioxide is converted to glucose. This stage requires NADPH and ATP, which were both made during the light reactions. In this cyclic reaction, 3 carbon dioxide molecules enter the cycle and one G3P sugar molecule leaves the cycle. This cycle process uses 9 ATP molecules and 6 NADPH molecules. 

Works Cited

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