PhotosynthesisPhotosynthesis is the conversion of energy from sunlight through a chemical process into potential energy, which is stored in the plant, algae, or bacteria that has created it for later use as energy. Almost every living thing depends on photosynthesis as a primary, secondary, or tertiary source of food energy.
In addition to the storage of energy for later use, photosynthesis frees oxygen from carbon dioxide, releasing it into the atmosphere through plant respiration. The cycle of plant respiration releasing oxygen as a by-product of carbon dioxide synthesis, only to have the oxygen used by animals releasing carbon dioxide, is one of the most critical natural cycles in nature.
Organisms that produce energy through photosynthesis are called photoautotrophs.
There are three classifications of living things that respire through photosynthesis: plants, algae of varying types, and certain bacteria. The most common and well-understood form of photosynthesis is that which takes place in plants; the basic chemical process is described in the following equation:
CO2 + H2O 6 O2 + (CH2O) + 112 kcal/mol CO2
Or equal parts carbon dioxide and water react in the presence of sunlight to create oxygen, a simple carbohydrate, and 112 kilocalories per mole of carbon dioxide processed, stored in ATP and/or NADPH.
Web Resources On Photosynthesis
BioBook: Photosynthesis
What is Photosynthesis?
Book Resources On PhotosynthesisPhotosynthesis by Hall & Rao
Molecular Mechanisms of Photosynthesis by Robert E. Blankenship
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