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Photosynthesis
 - Introduction 
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 - The Process
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Thinkquest Team 22016
Andrew Griffiths
Tim Sindle
Ben Harper
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(Otherwise known as the subject with a really long
name)
Introduction
Yes, its a long name.
14 letters in fact! But if you take a look at it, you'll see that
the name is pretty self-explanitary.
Photo - like with
cameras...ie light(the sun)
Synthesis - to make
So from the name - its
all about using light to help make something. Yes, but its a bit
more complicated than that. Photosynthesis is a process used by all
green plants(we'll mainly be looking at plants) and some bacteria
to produce food to use as energy. Its a chemical process, and its
formula is:
From the formula
above, you can see that Carbon Dioxide(CO2) and water in
the plant is converted into Oxygen(O2) and
carbohydrates(CH2O). The carbohydrates being the food -
which will eventually be converted to energy to be used by the
plant for various activities. Oxygen is given off as a
by-product.
Photosynthesis happens in the leaves of plants, because the leaves
have the green pigment - Chlorphyll which is used in the process.
Chlorophyll is used for trapping and converting the light energy
into chemical potential energy. This potential energy is used
during respiration to do metabolic work, like - cell division,
repair, growth.
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