BIOLOGY REVISION

PHOTOSYNTHESIS
PHOTOSYNTHESIS
Photosynthesis is the process by which green plants use the chlorophyll within them
to absorb light energy in order to synthesise food from carbon dioxide and water with
oxygen as a waste product with these chemical reactions in the cell being controlled
by enzymes. The equation is the opposite of the one for respiration:
carbon dioxide + water -----> glucose + oxygen
(using light energy absorbed by chlorophyll)

MATERIALS

The carbon dioxide is taken from the air and contains the carbon and oxygen needed
to make the glucose. The water is taken from the ground and provides the hydrogen
needed to make the glucose while its oxygen is the waste product. The light energy
which is needed comes from the sun. This light energy is absorbed by the green
pigment is chloroplasts called chlorophyll.
Although oxygen is made during photosynthesis, the plant may still use some from
the air to respire. Plants need minerals as well to survive by carrying out a range of
other living processes. For example, nitrates are needed to make proteins from the
glucose generated by photosynthesis.

RATE
Commercial plant growers want to make photosynthesis as fast as possible because
the faster it photosynthesises the more food it makes and so the faster it grows, the
healthier it is and the bigger it is. This is why plants are often grown in greenhouses
because then the factors that affect the rate of photosynthesis can be controlled. The
rate of photosynthesis can be affected by three factors:

Light increasing the light intensity increases the rate as more energy
can be absorbed to make photosynthesis happen
Carbon Dioxide increasing the carbon dioxide level increases the rate
(to change this in an experiment you can use sodium hydroxide which
absorbs it)
Temperature increasing the temperature up to about 40C increases
the rate as photosynthesis is controlled by enzymes
Increasing the amount of water does not increase the rate of photosynthesis as
only the water needed by the plant is used and too much can kill the plant by
driving oxygen out of the soil and thus killing the roots. The above factors have
limiting factors however e.g. the amount of chloroplasts in a plant cannot be
changed so the plant can only absorb a certain amount of light and carbon
dioxide and after about 40C the enzymes needed for photosynthesis are
denatured.

IMPORTANCE
Photosynthesis is important because it provides the oxygen as a by-product which
every living organism needs for respiration. Without it there would be no oxygen left
in the air so nothing could live.

USES OF GLUCOSE
Glucose produced in photosynthesis can be used in many ways, for example:
It may be respired to provide energy
May be used to make carbohydrates and lipids
Transported as sucrose to growing points, stems and roots
Converted to starch for storage
Used to make cellulose for cell walls
Used to make proteins for growth (with nitrates)

EXPERIMENTAL NOTES
Sodium hydroxide absorbs carbon dioxide and iodine solution can test for the starch
(shows photosynthesis as glucose converts to starch for storage).