Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis - The chemical change which happens in the leaves of green plants

• The first step towards plants producing food

The equation:

• carbon dioxide + water -----------> glucose + oxygen

Oxygen is the waste product produced by photosynthesis

• For photosynthesis to take place there must be chlorophyll present and energy from the sunlight!!!

There are 3 factors limiting photosynthesis from going faster:

Light Level - Without enough light, plants can't photosynthesise very fast.

Increasing the light intensity will make it faster.

CO2 Level - Even if there is enough light, a plant can't photosynthesise if it has run out of carbon dioxide.

Temperature - If it's too cold, the rate of photosynthesis will slow way down. If it's too hot the plant will lose the ability to photosynthesise.