Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration

Carbon dioxide is a gas that plants absorb from the air and use as a source of carbon to build glucose. It's the starting material for building sugars in photosynthesis.

Water serves as a source of electrons and hydrogen ions (H+) in photosynthesis. These are essential for the process of converting light energy into chemical energy.

Sunlight provides the energy to drive photosynthesis. Light energy is captured by chlorophyll pigments in the chloroplasts.

Glucose is a simple sugar produced as a result of photosynthesis in plants. It acts as a source of energy for the plant and is used to create other organic molecules.

A byproduct of photosynthesis, oxygen gas is released into the atmosphere. It's a vital component of the air we breathe.

This is the first stage of photosynthesis where light energy is absorbed by chlorophyll and converted into chemical energy in the form of ATP and NADPH.

ATP is a high-energy molecule, like a rechargeable battery for the plant. It's used to power the Calvin cycle.

NADPH is a high-energy electron carrier that carries electrons from the light-dependent reactions to the Calvin cycle.

The second stage of photosynthesis, where the carbon dioxide is fixed and used to build glucose (G3P) using the energy from ATP and NADPH produced in the light-dependent reactions.

The Calvin cycle uses the energy from ATP produced in the light-dependent reactions to power the reactions that create glucose.

NADPH delivers the high-energy electrons to the Calvin Cycle, which are needed to reduce carbon dioxide and create glucose.

The Calvin Cycle uses carbon dioxide absorbed from the atmosphere to build glucose, using the energy from ATP and NADPH.

The Calvin Cycle produces glucose, a simple sugar, which serves as the primary source of energy for the plant and is used to build other organic molecules.

NADPH is used in the Calvin Cycle and is converted to NADP+ when it releases its electrons.

As the Calvin Cycle uses the energy of ATP, it converts it to ADP, which is recycled back to ATP in the light-dependent reactions.

Chlorophyll is a pigment found in chloroplasts that absorbs light energy, particularly in red and blue wavelengths. It gives plants their green color.

These are organelles found in plant cells that contain chlorophyll. They are the sites of photosynthesis where light energy is converted into chemical energy.

Both processes use electron carriers, like NADH and NADPH, to move electrons between different stages, transferring energy.

Both processes use electron transport chains embedded in membranes (mitochondrial inner membrane for respiration and thylakoid membrane for photosynthesis) to generate a proton gradient that drives ATP synthesis.

Photosynthesis occurs in the chloroplasts of plant cells, while cellular respiration happens in the mitochondria of both plant and animal cells.

PSII is a protein complex in the thylakoid membrane that captures light energy and uses it to split water molecules, releasing oxygen as a byproduct and providing electrons for the ETC.

The electrons from PSII travel down an electron transport chain, similar to that in cellular respiration, releasing energy that is used to pump protons across the thylakoid membrane, setting up a proton gradient.

The proton gradient across the thylakoid membrane is used to drive ATP synthesis by ATP synthase, a process called photophosphorylation.

PSI captures light energy and uses it to boost the electrons to a higher energy level, ultimately reducing NADP+ to NADPH.

The electrons from PSI travel down a short electron transport chain and ultimately reduce NADP+ to NADPH, which carries the reducing power to the Calvin Cycle.

In this step, RuBP (ribulose bisphosphate) combines with carbon dioxide from the atmosphere to form a 6-carbon molecule that is then broken down into two 3 carbon molecules (3-PGA).

The 3-PGA molecules are reduced using the energy from ATP and the electrons carried by NADPH to form G3P (glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate), a simple sugar.

Some G3P is used to build glucose, while the rest is used to regenerate RuBP, so the cycle can continue.