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Ha, nice one! So if the Amazon is like lungs in this sense, where is it bringing the oxygen in from?
by abainbridge 7y ago
Ha, nice one! So if the Amazon is like lungs in this sense, where is it bringing the oxygen in from?
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- mikepurvis 7y agoReleased as waste via photosynthesis when it breaks apart CO2 in order to use the carbon to build plant matter?
- partialrecall 7y agoIf I recall my bio class right, the oxygen in the CO2 goes into the production of carbohydrates. The oxygen released as waste comes from split water molecules (photosynthesis requires both CO2 and H20.)
- zamfi 7y agoPhotosynthesis releases as many O2 molecules as it takes in CO2 molecules. It also uses water and produces sugar. I’m not sure if the released oxygen comes from the water or the carbon dioxide but it doesn’t much matter! Edit: looks like it comes from the water. Cool!
- Xixi 7y agoPhotosynthesis: 6CO2 + 6H2O → C6H12O6 + 6O2 In English: 6 carbon dioxide molecules and 6 water molecules become 1 glucose molecule and 6 dioxygen molecules. So for each CO2 molecule in, there is one O2 molecule out. Now it's entirely possible that some of the O in O2 comes from the H2O molecules. At most half of it if I know how to count up to twelve. Edited for clarity.
- partialrecall 7y agoIt definitely doesn't matter, but I recall my bio teacher getting quite pedantic on this point. It's moderately interesting trivia I guess.
- mikepurvis 7y agoAnd then the glucose is what becomes the building block for cellulose, lignin, etc, right?
- Xixi 7y agoAnd amino acids [1], and anything organic synthesized by plants, through many many intermediary steps. But I am neither a biologist nor a chemist, so please do not take my word for it, I may be wrong. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amino_acid_synthesis https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amino_acid_synthesis
- zamfi 7y ago> At most half of it if I know how to count up to twelve. I thought so too, and this would be true if the reaction happened exactly as the equation describes. But it turns out there are a bunch of intermediate steps. The first set is pure hydrolysis: 2H2O + light + depleted energy carriers -> 2O2 + 2H(+) + filled energy carriers (that include 2H) That oxygen is excreted and ends up in the atmosphere. Then, there’s the transpiration process that takes in CO2 and makes sugar and water again: 3CO2 + filled energy carriers (that include 6H total) + 6H(+) -> C3H6O3 + depleted energy carriers + 3H2O So really what happens is this: 6CO2 + 12H2O -> C6H12O6 + 6O2 + 6H2O All the O2 output comes from the 12 H2O input. The 6 H2O output are recreated with half the H from the input 12 H2O but oxygen from from half the 6CO2 input, while the other half of the CO2, combined with 12 H from the 12 H2O input, make the sugar. Fascinating stuff. One upshot: all that crap about the water molecules being the same molecules the dinosaurs swam is crap. Any water that’s been through photosynthesis is reconstituted on the molecular level!
- this_was_posted 7y agofrom the air that it takes in, just like lungs do