preview

The Stages of Cellular Respiration and Photosynthesis Essay

Satisfactory Essays

The Cellular respiration and photosynthesis form a critical cycle of energy and matter that supports the continued existence of life on earth. Describe the stages of cellular respiration and photosynthesis and their interaction and interdependence including raw materials, products, and amount of ATP or glucose produced during each phase. How is each linked to specific organelles within the eukaryotic cell? What has been the importance and significance of these processes and their cyclic interaction to the evolution and diversity of life?
Respiration consists of a complicated series of chemical reactions. The first step of cellar respiration, called glycolysis, takes place in the cytoplasm. The two main components are oxygen and …show more content…

The last step of cellular respiration is the Electron transport chain (ETC). The ETC takes place in the inner mitochondrial membrane. Electrons from Hydrogen are carried by NADH and passed down an electron transport chain to result in the production of ATP. Results are the production of ~32 ATPs for every glucose. Oxygen, which is the final electron receptor, finishes the process by creating a water molecule and combining the remaining hydrogen molecules. Oxygen is the final electron receptor. Without it, the process cannot be complete (Cellular Respiration, 2004). The waste products of cellular respiration are CO2 and H2O that are the same incrediants used in photosynthesis. Plants store chemical energy by photosynthese and then harvest this energy via cellular respiration.
Photosynthesis occurs each time the sun’s light reaches the lives of a plant. The chemical ingrediants for photosynthesis are carbon dioxide (CO2), a gas that passes from the air into a plant via tiny pores, and water (H20), which absorbed from the soil by the plant’s roots. Inside leaf cells, tiny structures called chloroplasts use light energy to rearrange the atoms of the ingrediants to produce sugars, most importantly glucose (C6H12O6) and other organic molecules. Chlorophyll gives the plant its green color (Simon, 02/2012, pp. 92-93). Chemical reactions transfers the sun’s light energy into the chemical bonds that hold energy-carrying molecules. The most common are

Get Access