🩷 3.5 - 3.5.1 Photosynthesis (A-level only) Flashcards
In what cell of a plant does photosynthesis take place?
Chloroplasts.
True or false?
Chloroplasts are flattened organelles surrounded by a double membrane.
True.
What are thylakoids?
They are fluid-filled sacks and are stacked up in the chloroplast into grand (singular = granum). These grana are linked together by bits of the thylakoid membrane called lamellae (singular = lamella).
What pigments do chloroplasts contain?
Photosynthetic pigments.
What are examples of the photosynthetic pigments?
Chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b and carotene.
What are photosynthetic pigments?
Coloured substances that absorb the light energy needed for photosynthesis.
Where are the photosynthetic pigments found? + What are they attached to? + What are they called together?
In the thylakoid membranes.
They are attached to proteins.
They are called a photosystem.
What are the two photosystems used by plants to capture light energy called?
Photosystem I (or PSI) and photosystem II (or PSII).
Does photosystem I or photosystem II absorb light best?
Photosystem I (PSI) absorbs light best at a wavelength of 700nm compared to photosystem II (PSII) which absorbs light at 680nm.
What is the stroma in a chloroplast?
It is a gel-like substance which is contained within the inner membrane of the chloroplast and surrounds the thylakoids.
What does stroma contain?
Enzymes, sugars and organic acids.
What are carbohydrates which are produced during photosynthesis stored as, as they are not stored straight away?
Starch grains located in the stroma.
How many stages can photosynthesis be split into? and what are the stages called?
Two.
The light-dependant reaction and the light-independent reaction.
Which reaction in photosynthesis needs light energy?
The light-dependant reaction.
Where does the light-dependant reaction take place?
and where does the light-independent reaction take place?
LDR - Thylakoid membranes.
LIR - Stroma.
What happens during the light-dependant reaction of photosynthesis?
The light energy is absorbed by chlorophyll in the photosystems. This light energy excites the electrons in the chlorophyll which leads to their release from the molecule. Therefore, the chlorophyll has been photoionised.
Some of the energy from the released electrons is used to photophosphorylate ATP and some are used to reduce NADP to reduced NADP.
What is the role of ATP?
Transfer energy to the LIR.
What is the role of reduced NADP?
Transfers hydrogen to the LIR.
During the LDR, what is H2O oxidised to?
O2.
What is the LIR also called?
Calvin cycle.
What happens during the light-independent reaction of photosynthesis?
The ATP and reduced NADP from the light-dependant reaction supply the energy and hydrogen to make simple sugars from CO2.