How Plants make their own Food

Plants need energy to grow, to replace worn out cells, to get rid of waste, and to reproduce. All organisms get energy from food. Photosynthesis is the process by which plants make food. Only plants can make food.

The initial process in photosynthesis is the decomposition of water (H2O) into oxygen, which is released, and hydrogen; direct light is required for this process. The hydrogen and the carbon and oxygen of carbon dioxide (CO2) are then converted into a series of increasingly complex compounds that result finally in a stable organic compound, glucose (C6H12O6), and water. This phase of photosynthesis utilizes stored energy and therefore can proceed in the dark. The simplified equation used to represent this overall process is 6CO2+12H2O+energy = C6H12O6+6O2+6H2O. In general, the results of this process are the reverse of those in respiration, in which carbohydrates are oxidized to release energy, with the production of carbon dioxide and water.

Photosynthesis is the most important biological process on Earth. It serves as the World's largest solar battery. The primary reactions have close to 100% quantum efficiency (i.e., one quantum of light leads toone electron transfer); and under most ideal conditions, the overall energy efficiency can reach 35%. Due to losses at all steps in biochemistry, one has been able to get only about 1 to 2% energy efficiency in most crop plants. Sugarcane is an exception as it can have almost 8% efficiency. However, many plants in Nature often have only 0.1 % energy efficiency. Due to massive vegetation, the total productivity is very high indeed. (Deforestation is a bad deal for all of us because it would add to the already increasing CO2 in the atmosphere and its attendant consequences, such as global warming.) The photosynthesis of the past is what had stored the Sun's energy that ultimately produced coal; natural gas; and the petroleum (called petrol in India and gas in USA). Photosynthesis also provides us with the fiber, the clothing, and indirectly all the building materials including our Macs and PCs. In the villages in India, firewood, used for cooking and heating, also owes its existence to Photosynthesis. We cannot leave out the dried "cowdung" (gobar) from the scene. The cow that produced it clearly ate hay that was the dried form of what photosynthesis had produced for her. Thus, we depend upon the process for our existence in more ways than is often considered. Perhaps, the Earth is the only hospitable planet for our lives. In short, our Sun God (Suraj Devta) has given us this life through Photosynthesis.

PhotosynthesisIt’s not easy being green! In this Brain POP movie, Tim and Moby discuss the process of Photosynthesis! You’ll find out how plants are helpful to humans, what makes plants green, and how plants make their own food. Learn what an important role the sun plays in photosynthesis; how solar energy is turned into chemical energy; and how plants create glucose, their main source of fuel. You’ll also discover some important parts of a plant, including those that help make plant food. You know, not all plants say, "Feed me, Seymour!"

Animals and plants both synthesize fats and proteins from carbohydrates; thus glucose is a basic energy source for all living organisms. The oxygen released (with water vapour, in transpiration) as a photosynthetic by-product, principally of phytoplankton, provides most of the atmospheric oxygen vital to respiration in plants and animals, and animals in turn produce carbon dioxide necessary to plants. Photosynthesis can therefore be considered the ultimate source of life for nearly all plants and animals by providing the source of energy that drives all their metabolic processes.

Photosynthesis is a complex reaction. In a lot of ways, it's similar to the way your body breaks down food into fuel that it can store. Essentially, using energy from the sun, a plant can transform carbon dioxide and water into glucose and oxygen. In chemical terms:6CO2 + 12H2O + Light -> C6H12O6 + 6O2+ 6H2OIn other words, while we inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide, plants inhale carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. Some scientists believe that our atmosphere had little to no oxygen before plants evolved and started releasing it.Without the sun to feed plants (and the plants to release oxygen), we might not have breathable air. Without plants to feed us and the animals most people use for food, we'd also have nothing to eat.Obviously, plants are important, but not just because they give us food to eat and oxygen to breathe. Plants help control the amount of carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, in the atmosphere. They protect the soil from wind and from water runoff, helping to control erosion. In addition, they release water into the air during photosynthesis. This water, along with the rest of the water on the planet, takes part in a huge cycle that the sun controls.

As we mentioned earlier, photosynthesis is a process by which photoautotrophs convert unusable sunlight energy into usable chemical energy. Light, water, chlorophyll and carbon dioxide are the basic requirements for this process. Discussed below are the step0by-step details of the entire process.Read more at Buzzle:

Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere enters the plant leaf through the stomata. The stomata are minute epidermal pores in the leaves and stem of the plants which facilitate the transfer of various gases and water vapor through them.

This is followed by water entering the leaves, primarily through the roots. The roots are designed to draw in the ground water, and transport it to the leaves through the stem.

As sunlight falls on the surface of the leaves, the chlorophyll present in the leaves traps the energy in it. Chlorophyll is a green pigment present in the plant leaf, which helps the plant in absorbing sunlight. The green color of the leaf is also attributed to presence of chlorophyll in it.

Then hydrogen and oxygen are produced, as the products of photosynthesis, by converting water using the energy derived from the sun. The hydrogen is combined with carbon dioxide in order to make food for the plant, while oxygen is let out by the plant through the stomata. In the same manner, even the algae and bacteria which indulge in this process, use carbon dioxide and hydrogen to prepare food, while oxygen is let out as a waste product.

The electrons from the chlorophyll molecules and the protons from the water molecules facilitate chemical reactions in the cell. These reactions produce ATP (adenosine triphosphate), provides energy for cellular reactions, and NADP (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide diphosphate), essential in plant metabolism.

The entire process can be explained by a single chemical formula:

6CO2 + 12H2O + Light → C6H12O6 + 6O2+ 6H2O

Get to know

Plants only need Sunlight,Water and Carbon Dioxide

Roots absorb the Water Leaves absorb Co2 in the Air

Some Plants don’t make their own food like Venus Fly trap they

It small insects or Frog

Fun Facts