Photosynthesis Photosynthesis (photo = light and synthesis = to make) is the process plants use to change carbon dioxide and

water into sugar using sunlight. This sugar, glucose, is their food, and the process gives off oxygen. Photosynthesis is the conversion of light energy into chemical energy by living organisms. The raw materials are carbon dioxide and water. The energy source is sunlight, and the end-products include glucose and oxygen. It is arguably the most important biochemical pathway, since nearly all life depends on it. It is a complex process occurring in higher plants, phytoplankton, algae, as well as bacteria such as cyanobacteria. Photosynthetic organisms are also referred to as autotrophs. Photosynthesis is the process by which plants, some bacteria, and some protistans use the energy from sunlight to produce sugar, which cellular respiration converts into ATP, the "fuel" used by all living things. The conversion of unusable sunlight energy into usable chemical energy, is associated with the actions of the green pigment chlorophyll. Most of the time, the photosynthetic process uses water and releases the oxygen that we absolutely must have to stay alive. PRODUCT OF PHOTOSENTHESIS We can write the overall reaction of this process as: 6H2O + 6CO2 + light C6H12O6+ 6O2 6 water molecules + 6 carbon dioxide molecules + light is converted into 1 glucose molecule and 6 oxygen molecules The formula for photosynthesis is: 6 CO2 + 6 H2O C6H12O6 + 6 O2 In words: Carbon dioxide + Water + Light energy Glucose + Oxygen This is the most common formula used for photosynthesis, but it actually accounts for net water consumption. When we don't account for net water consumption, the forumla is: 6 CO2 + 12 H2O C6H12O6 + 6 O2 + 6 H2O TWO PHASES OF PHOTOSENTHESIS The process of photosynthesis can be divided into two major phases: a light-dependent phase (the "Light Reactions") and a light-independent phase (the "Dark Reactions"). In the light reactions, two things happen: (1) electrons are transferred from water to NADP+ (nicotinamide adenine nucleotide phosphate, the oxidized form) by a scheme that is called the "Z Scheme", producing oxygen and NADPH (the reduced form of NADP) and (2) the ADP (adenosine diphosphate) is converted to energy rich compound ATP (adenosine tri phosphate) . In the dark reactions, these two compounds (NADPH and ATP) are used to convert carbon dioxide to sugars, and the ADP and NADP are made available to carry on the process.