In this video, we're going to begin our introduction to photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process that uses energy from sunlight to synthesize or build sugars such as glucose. You can see that within the word "photosynthesis" itself because the root "photo" refers to light, such as sunlight. And "synthesis" refers to the ability to synthesize or build something. In this case, it's going to be sugars such as glucose. Now, as we'll see down below in our image, the process of photosynthesis uses carbon dioxide gas (CO2) from the atmosphere, water (H2O), and light energy or sunlight. It uses those three things to make glucose, whose chemical formula is C6H12O6, and oxygen gas, whose chemical formula is O2. Recall from our previous lesson videos when we introduced different organelles that the chloroplasts are green organelles that function as the site of photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is associated with chloroplasts, whereas cellular respiration is associated with mitochondria. Also recall from our previous lesson videos that photosynthetic organisms, or organisms that are capable of performing photosynthesis, are also called autotrophs. This is because autotrophs are able to make their own food without having to consume other living organisms. Autotrophs include photosynthetic organisms. Let's take a look at our example image down below to look at the overall chemical equation for photosynthesis. In this image, you'll notice, over here on the left, we have the organelle that is the chloroplast. When we zoom into the chloroplast, we can see that it really functions as the site of photosynthesis. As mentioned above in our lesson, photosynthesis takes carbon dioxide gas (CO2) from the atmosphere, water (H2O), and sunlight or solar energy from the sun. It's able to convert these three relatively simple reactants into sugars such as glucose. Here we have glucose, and glucose's chemical formula is C6H12O6. Oxygen gas is also created as a byproduct. This oxygen gas would either be released into the environment by the plant or it would be used by the plant itself to perform cellular respiration. This concludes our brief introduction to photosynthesis, and we'll continue to talk more and more about photosynthesis as we move forward in our course. I'll see you all in our next video.
Table of contents
- 1. Introduction to Biology2h 40m
- 2. Chemistry3h 40m
- 3. Water1h 26m
- 4. Biomolecules2h 23m
- 5. Cell Components2h 26m
- 6. The Membrane2h 31m
- 7. Energy and Metabolism2h 0m
- 8. Respiration2h 40m
- 9. Photosynthesis2h 49m
- 10. Cell Signaling59m
- 11. Cell Division2h 47m
- 12. Meiosis2h 0m
- 13. Mendelian Genetics4h 41m
- Introduction to Mendel's Experiments7m
- Genotype vs. Phenotype17m
- Punnett Squares13m
- Mendel's Experiments26m
- Mendel's Laws18m
- Monohybrid Crosses16m
- Test Crosses14m
- Dihybrid Crosses20m
- Punnett Square Probability26m
- Incomplete Dominance vs. Codominance20m
- Epistasis7m
- Non-Mendelian Genetics12m
- Pedigrees6m
- Autosomal Inheritance21m
- Sex-Linked Inheritance43m
- X-Inactivation9m
- 14. DNA Synthesis2h 27m
- 15. Gene Expression3h 20m
- 16. Regulation of Expression3h 31m
- Introduction to Regulation of Gene Expression13m
- Prokaryotic Gene Regulation via Operons27m
- The Lac Operon21m
- Glucose's Impact on Lac Operon25m
- The Trp Operon20m
- Review of the Lac Operon & Trp Operon11m
- Introduction to Eukaryotic Gene Regulation9m
- Eukaryotic Chromatin Modifications16m
- Eukaryotic Transcriptional Control22m
- Eukaryotic Post-Transcriptional Regulation28m
- Eukaryotic Post-Translational Regulation13m
- 17. Viruses37m
- 18. Biotechnology2h 58m
- 19. Genomics17m
- 20. Development1h 5m
- 21. Evolution3h 1m
- 22. Evolution of Populations3h 52m
- 23. Speciation1h 37m
- 24. History of Life on Earth2h 6m
- 25. Phylogeny2h 31m
- 26. Prokaryotes4h 59m
- 27. Protists1h 12m
- 28. Plants1h 22m
- 29. Fungi36m
- 30. Overview of Animals34m
- 31. Invertebrates1h 2m
- 32. Vertebrates50m
- 33. Plant Anatomy1h 3m
- 34. Vascular Plant Transport2m
- 35. Soil37m
- 36. Plant Reproduction47m
- 37. Plant Sensation and Response1h 9m
- 38. Animal Form and Function1h 19m
- 39. Digestive System10m
- 40. Circulatory System1h 57m
- 41. Immune System1h 12m
- 42. Osmoregulation and Excretion50m
- 43. Endocrine System4m
- 44. Animal Reproduction2m
- 45. Nervous System55m
- 46. Sensory Systems46m
- 47. Muscle Systems23m
- 48. Ecology3h 11m
- Introduction to Ecology20m
- Biogeography14m
- Earth's Climate Patterns50m
- Introduction to Terrestrial Biomes10m
- Terrestrial Biomes: Near Equator13m
- Terrestrial Biomes: Temperate Regions10m
- Terrestrial Biomes: Northern Regions15m
- Introduction to Aquatic Biomes27m
- Freshwater Aquatic Biomes14m
- Marine Aquatic Biomes13m
- 49. Animal Behavior28m
- 50. Population Ecology3h 41m
- Introduction to Population Ecology28m
- Population Sampling Methods23m
- Life History12m
- Population Demography17m
- Factors Limiting Population Growth14m
- Introduction to Population Growth Models22m
- Linear Population Growth6m
- Exponential Population Growth29m
- Logistic Population Growth32m
- r/K Selection10m
- The Human Population22m
- 51. Community Ecology2h 46m
- Introduction to Community Ecology2m
- Introduction to Community Interactions9m
- Community Interactions: Competition (-/-)38m
- Community Interactions: Exploitation (+/-)23m
- Community Interactions: Mutualism (+/+) & Commensalism (+/0)9m
- Community Structure35m
- Community Dynamics26m
- Geographic Impact on Communities21m
- 52. Ecosystems2h 36m
- 53. Conservation Biology24m
9. Photosynthesis
Introduction to Photosynthesis
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