🌿Photosynthesis vs Cellular respiration🫁
Photosynthesis and cellular respiration are mirror processes. One captures energy from sunlight; the other releases it for life's activities.
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🌿Photosynthesis
- ✓Converts sunlight, carbon dioxide and water into glucose
- ✓Stores energy in chemical bonds and releases oxygen
- ✓Occurs in chloroplasts of plants and algae
- ✓Requires light to proceed
- ✓Removes carbon dioxide from the atmosphere
🫁Cellular respiration
- ✓Breaks down glucose to release usable energy
- ✓Consumes oxygen and produces carbon dioxide and water
- ✓Occurs in the mitochondria of nearly all cells
- ✓Happens continuously, in light or darkness
- ✓Powers cell activity by producing ATP
Verdict
Photosynthesis and respiration are chemical opposites that balance each other. Plants do both; animals only respire. Together they cycle carbon, oxygen and energy through the living world.
Frequently asked
Do plants do both processes?+
Yes. Plants photosynthesize in light and respire all the time to use the stored energy.
Where does each process occur?+
Photosynthesis happens in chloroplasts; cellular respiration happens in mitochondria.
How are the two linked?+
The products of one are the reactants of the other, forming a continuous energy and gas cycle.
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