Photosynthesis to Produce Glucose

• Thanks to sunlight, plants can make glucose. ULTRA.F/Photodisc/Getty Images

  Glucose is an extremely important chemical for both plants and animals. Plants produce glucose through the process of photosynthesis and then use the chemical through the process of respiration. Both of these processes are the result of a very complex series of chemical reactions.

ATP and NADPH

• The chemical reactions in the plant that rely on light occur in the thylakoid membrane. Through the process of chemical reactions, ATP and NADPH are created. Adenosine triphosphate is one substance found in glucose that provides energy to plants. ATP is a nucleotide, which is the building block for both DNA and RNA. ATP has a nitrogen base, carbon sugar and phosphates. The plant creates, uses and re-creates ATP in a continuous cycle with all of the ATP recycled in the plant every minute or so. NADPH is nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate. NADPH carries electrons, with one electron carried by a hydrogen atom and another one removed from a hydrogen atom, according to Clinton Community College. Through this process, a proton is released. Electrons released through this process can turn CO2 into a carbohydrate.

Chain Reaction

• The energy chain reaction occurs when six molecules of carbon dioxide combine with six molecules of water, according to Clinton Community College. When carbon dioxide is turned into glucose and water, both of these molecules are stored by the plant. Glucose is used by the plant as an energy source, and water is used for a variety of functions such as maintaining the water pressure of the plant, which allows the plant to maintain its shape, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. If the plant has more water than it needs, much of the water is released by the plant through transpiration. Throughout this whole process, oxygen atoms bind together and form molecular oxygen, which is two oxygen atoms fused together as O2. This O2 is released back into the atmosphere.

Respiration

• When plants need energy, they must engage in respiration. The two kinds of respiration that they have to choose from include aerobic respiration and anaerobic respiration, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Anaerobic respiration is performed when aerobic respiration is not possible, but anaerobic respiration is not enough to sustain the plant. Regardless of how the respiration occurs, cellular respiration is essentially a series of oxidations where electrons are removed from glucose in the mitochondria, according to the Bellevue College Science Division. This process occurs through glycolysis, which is a series of chemical reactions that split apart molecules and recombine molecules, according to the Smith College Department of Science. Electrons freed from the glucose then travel down the electron transport chain.