Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
Although cellular respiration is technically a combustion reaction, it is an unusual one because of the slow, controlled release of energy from the series of reactions. Nutrients that are commonly used by animal and plant cells in respiration include sugar, amino acids and fatty acids, and the most common oxidizing agent is molecular oxygen (O 2).
Chemotrophs release chemical energy. The freed energy is stored as potential energy in ATP, carbohydrates, or proteins. Eventually, the energy is used for life processes such as moving, growth and reproduction. Plants and some bacteria can alternate between phototrophy and chemotrophy, depending on the availability of light.
When animals and fungi consume plants, they use cellular respiration to break down these stored carbohydrates to make energy available to cells. [2] Both animals and plants temporarily store the released energy in the form of high-energy molecules, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP), for use in various cellular processes. [3]
Photosynthesis is the main means by which plants, algae and many bacteria produce organic compounds and oxygen from carbon dioxide and water (green arrow). An autotroph is an organism that can convert abiotic sources of energy into energy stored in organic compounds, which can be used by other organisms.
Autotrophs use energy from sunlight (photoautotrophs) or oxidation of inorganic compounds (lithoautotrophs) to convert inorganic carbon dioxide to organic carbon compounds and energy to sustain their life. Comparing the two in basic terms, heterotrophs (such as animals) eat either autotrophs (such as plants) or other heterotrophs, or both.
28.2% (sunlight energy collected by chlorophyll) → 68% is lost in conversion of ATP and NADPH to d-glucose, leaving; 9% (collected as sugar) → 35–40% of sugar is recycled/consumed by the leaf in dark and photo-respiration, leaving; 5.4% net leaf efficiency. Many plants lose much of the remaining energy on growing roots.
Terrestrial and aquatic phototrophs: plants grow on a fallen log floating in algae-rich water Phototrophs (from Ancient Greek φῶς , φωτός ( phôs, phōtós ) 'light' and τροφή ( trophḗ ) 'nourishment') are organisms that carry out photon capture to produce complex organic compounds (e.g. carbohydrates ) and acquire energy.
The reaction for the aerobic respiration is essentially the reverse of photosynthesis, except that now there is a large release of chemical energy which is stored in ATP molecules (up to 38 ATP molecules are formed from one molecule of glucose and 6 O 2 molecules). The simplified version of this reaction is: C 6 H 12 O 6 + 6 O 2 → 6 CO 2 + 6 H