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The following is a breakdown of the energetics of the photosynthesis process from Photosynthesis by Hall and Rao: [6]. Starting with the solar spectrum falling on a leaf, 47% lost due to photons outside the 400–700 nm active range (chlorophyll uses photons between 400 and 700 nm, extracting the energy of one 700 nm photon from each one)
Photosynthesis (/ ˌ f oʊ t ə ˈ s ɪ n θ ə s ɪ s / FOH-tə-SINTH-ə-sis) [1] is a system of biological processes by which photosynthetic organisms, such as most plants, algae, and cyanobacteria, convert light energy, typically from sunlight, into the chemical energy necessary to fuel their metabolism.
The absorbed energy of the photon is transferred to an electron in a process called charge separation. The removal of the electron from the chlorophyll is an oxidation reaction. The chlorophyll donates the high energy electron to a series of molecular intermediates called an electron transport chain.
The main carboxylating enzyme in C 3 photosynthesis is called RuBisCO, which catalyses two distinct reactions using either CO 2 (carboxylation) or oxygen (oxygenation) as a substrate. RuBisCO oxygenation gives rise to phosphoglycolate, which is toxic and requires the expenditure of energy to recycle through photorespiration.
To do this, it must release the absorbed energy. This can happen in various ways. The extra energy can be converted into molecular motion and lost as heat, or re-emitted by the electron as light (fluorescence). The energy, but not the electron itself, may be passed onto another molecule; this is called resonance energy transfer.
One of the main functions of the chloroplast is its role in photosynthesis, the process by which light is transformed into chemical energy, to subsequently produce food in the form of sugars. Water (H 2 O) and carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) are used in photosynthesis, and sugar and oxygen (O 2 ) are made, using light energy .
The majority of the fixation occurs in terrestrial environments, especially the tropics. The gross amount of carbon dioxide fixed is much larger since approximately 40% is consumed by respiration following photosynthesis. [6] [7] Historically, it is estimated that approximately 2×10 11 billion tons of carbon has been fixed since the origin of ...
Energy flow is the flow of energy through living things within an ecosystem. [1] All living organisms can be organized into producers and consumers , and those producers and consumers can further be organized into a food chain .