Photosynthesis

Overview

• Photosynthesis is the process where energy from light is used to break apart strong bonds in H2O molecules.
• It involves the reduction of CO2 to carbohydrates.
• The hydrogen is combined with CO2 to form glucose and O2 is released into the atmosphere.
• The hydrogen comes from the photolysis of H2O.
• The energy for photolysis is at first trapped by a pigment molecule called chlorophyll.
• This process happens 3x, to produce C6H12O6, glucose.
• Therefore, photosynthesis stores energy in glucose.
• The process occurs in 2 linked stages called the light-dependent and light-independent reactions

Key Words

• Phosphorylation - adding phosphate to a molecule
• Photophosphorylation - adding phosphate to a molecule using light 
• Photolysis - the splitting of a molecules using light energy
• Hydrolysis - the splitting of a molecule using water
• Redox Reactions - reactions that involves oxidation and reduction; the oxidation of 1 molecule always involves the reduction of another, and vice versa
• Oxidation - when something loses electrons
• Reduction - when something gains electrons