Biology SCIE206
1. Photosynthesis is the process of converting light energy to chemical energy and storing it in the bonds of sugar glucose [1]. The process of photosynthesis usually takes place in plants, seaweeds, algae, and certain types of bacteria. The plants capture the energy of the sun by the chemical process. They also produce sugar glucose as their foods and they usually produce more than enough sugar glucose to survive. Although for some it may seem like a waste but it’s actually a benefit. It’s beneficial because all the other life forms on earth must use this excess sugar to survive. These sugars that are created using photosynthesis are then changed to starch for storage. It can also be combined with nutrients to help build complex molecules like proteins. Also, the sugar glucose that is produced in the photosynthetic cells of plants come from the main chemical combining of carbon dioxide and water and then adding sunlight. Photosynthesis is very important to the maintenance of oxygen in the air. It’s a vital source in fuel energy such as oil and coal. Photosynthesis is oxygen in which most if not all organisms depend on. The photosynthesis process is divided into two stages: the light reactions and the dark reactions. The light reaction converts light into energy ATP and NADHP. ATP is the energy carrier of the reaction which takes place in the light dependant stage of photosynthesis. Then the dark reactions take that energy mixed with carbon dioxide and produces sugar. NADHP carries ions to different stages of a chemical reaction. NADPH is a NAD carrier molecule that carries Phosphorous and Hydrogen ions to the different stages of the photosynthesis. Once these ions are used, the NAD will be the only thing that remains. 2. Fermentation uses organic compounds like carbohydrates as electron acceptors instead of using molecular oxygen. There are two processes: Obligate anaerobes and Anaerobic Respiration. Although they sound very similar, they both are different. During the Obligate anaerobes process there are 2 ATPs released and 36 ATPs released during the aerobic respiration process. When there is no oxygen available, an organism will use fermentation in order to survive. Glycolosis takes place in the cytosol of the cell and produces both NADH and pyruvate (glucose + 2 NAD+ + 2 ADP + 2 Pi � 2 pyruvate + 2 NADH + 2 ATP). NAD+ has a limited supply and must be regenerated because NADH