photosynthesis Flashcards
what is the chemical equation of photosynthesis?
LIghtt energy + 6CO2 + 6H2O —- C6H12O6 (glucose) + 6O2
where does photosynthesis ocurr for what stages
light reactions take place in the thylakoids of the chloroplast, the calvin cycle occurs in the stroma.
what are thylakoids?
stacks of membranes that create a large surface area for harvesting light energy, due to chlorophylls ability to absorb photons of light
how is the light energy coverted into chemical energy
light is passed to electrons in the centre of the thylakoid allowing high energy electrons to leave the system and move through the photosynthetic electron transport chain
what is produced when the high energy electrons pass through the photosynthetic electron transport chain
ATP, NADPH, oxygen and H+ gradient
what are the names of the photosystems in the chain
photosysten II and photosystem I
photosystem II is the first one and photosystem I is the second as they were named in the order they were discovered not the order of function.
what happens as electrons move from phtosystem two to one?
the lost high energy from moving across protons is boosten when entering photosystem 1 before being stored as NADPH
as the protons in the gradient move down through ATP synthase, what happens
catalyses the production of ATP
why has photosystem 2 evolved to strip 2 electrons from water?
because you need to keep putting more electrons into the system to keep it going
what two things happen after the light reactions during photosynthesis
calvin cycle and carbon fixation
what are the three steps in carbon fixation to turn low energy CO2 into glucose?
fixation, reduction, regeneration
what is the process called in which 3 x 5 carbon molecules and 3 x 1 carbon molecules produce 6 x 3 carbon molecules
fixation
what process of the calvin cycle goes from 6 x 3 carbon low energy molecules to 6 x 3 high energy carbon molecules using ATP and NADPH, allowing one three carbon molecule to leave the cycle
reduction
what is the process called where the 5 left over 3 carbon molecules get converted back into 3 X 5 carbon molecules to bind to more CO2
regeneration
what happens to the output of the calvin cycle?
the high energy 3 carbon molecule that left the calvin cycle is converted to give glucose
what are vital for photosynthesis to occur?
ATP and NADPH
where does almost all glucose on earth come from (either directly or indirectly)
photosynthesis
what is responsible for ATP generation
ATP synthase ( in both cellular repsiration in mitochondra and chloroplsts in photosynthesis)
