Unit 2 - Intro to Photosynthesis Flashcards
Photosynthesis Chemical equation
6CO2 + 6H2O =(water synthesis) glucose + 6O2
Process of Photosynthesis two main steps?
1) Photo light dependent rxn
2) Synthesis light-independent reaction of Calvin cycle
Photo light dependent rxn
- light energy is captured by pigment mols
- energy is used to make ATP and NADPH
Synthesis Light Independent Reaction or Calvin cycle
- free energy or ATP and electrons of NADPH r used to synthesize sugars such as glucose from CO2
- process is also called CO2 fixation
Light
- only 5% of the light that hits the earths surface is converted to organic compounds by photosynthesis
Light travels in…
wave packets called photons
Light from the sun is a…
mixture of photons of different energies (called wavelengths measured in nanometers (nm)
where r photons captured in plants
plastids ie chloroplasts
Chloroplasts functions
- photosynthesis factories for plants and algae
- store excess glucose as starch
Chloroplasts structure
- 2 membranes (like mitochondria)
- interior space filled w stroma
in stroma r thylakoids (membrane-bound sacs) - thylakoid membrane contains light-gathering pigments
Thylakoids Structure
1) grana
2) lamelae
3) lumen
Grana
stack of thylakoids (60 grana per chloroplast with 30-50 thylakoids each)
Lamellae
unstacked thylakoids that link grana together
Lumen
interior of the thylakoid, water-filled
Pigments Chlorophyll
- green plants algae and cyanobacteria contain chloroplasts w the pigments chlorophyll a and b.
Both a and b structures
absorb blue and red light and reflected green light