Photosynthesis

Word Equation for Photosynthesis:

Carbon Dioxide + Water = Glucose + Oxygen

Chemical Equation for Photosynthesis: (Don't forget the three 6's at the beggining of Carbon Dioxide Hydrogen and Oxygen are meant to be large but the rest subscript)

6CO2 + 6H2O = C6H12O6 + 6O2

Notice how the equation is balanced, there are the same number of atoms of each element on each side, nothing has disappeared.

It is a two stage process, which takes place in the Chloroplasts.

First the light energy (represented by = ) is used to split water into Oxygen gas and Hydrogen ions. Then Carbon Dioxide gas combines with the Hydrogen ions to make Glucose and Water

Glucose

Plants make glucose in their leaves. Some of it is used for respiration which releases energy and allows the plant to convert the rest of the glucose into other substances. In rapidly growing plants, glucose is converted into cellulose to build cell walls. Some glucose is combined with nitrates from the soil to make amino acids and proteins, which are used for growth and repair. Glucose can also be turned into lipids (fats and oils) for storage in seeds.

Glucose can also be stored as starch

One of the substances Glucose can be converted into is starch. This starch is stored in roots, stems and leaves ready for photosynthesis isn't happening, like at night.

Starch is insoluble which makes it good for storage. There are two benfits to this:

1) It can't dissolve in water and move away from storage areas in solution

2) It doesn't affect the water concentration innside cells - soluble substances would bloat the storage cells by drawing in water.