Monday, June 24, 2013

How CO2 and H2O get to the photosynthesising cell?

There are many different types of cells.  Many animals have skeletons to give their body structure and support.  Plants do not have a skeleton for support and yet plants don't just flop over in a big spongy mess.  This is because of a unique cellular structure called the cell wall.  The cell wall is a rigid structure outside of the cell membrane composed mainly of the polysaccharide cellulose.  The cell wall gives the plant cell a defined shape which helps support individual parts of plants.  In addition to the cell wall, plant cells contain an organelle called the chloroplast.  The chloroplast allows plants to harvest energy from sunlight.  Specialized pigments in the chloroplast (including the common green pigment chlorophyll) absorb sunlight and use this energy to complete the chemical reaction:

 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + energy (from sunlight) = C6H12O6 + 6 O2

In this way, plant cells manufacture glucose and other carbohydrates that they can store for later use.

I hope this answers your question, I was not sure what you were asking.  For more information check the links below and maybe read about the Calvin cycle.

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