Solar panels that you see on houses are also broad and flat for the same reason. A wide broad surface will capture far more light than a thin narrow leave surface. It shouldn’t be too surprising for you to learn that the plant’s structure is very well adapted to trap sunlight and absorb carbon dioxide. At night when there is no light a plant stops making food. This pigment that is found in the leaves and the stem of the plant is responsible for absorbing light energy from the sun. Chlorophyll is the pigment in plants that gives leaves their green color. Plants can do this because of leaf structures called chloroplasts that contain a special substance called chlorophyll. Whenever the plant needs energy it breaks down its stored glucose for its life processes How do plants capture the sun’s energy? This energy is then passed to animals when they eat plants. The energy from the sun is transferred to the plants. Excess glucose is stored as starch in the leaves, roots, stems and seeds of the plant. They use the light energy from the sun (solar energy) and convert it into chemical energy that is stored as sugar (glucose) in the plant. Plants figured out how to use solar energy millions of years ago to make their food. People are always trying to harness it to make electricity, warm their houses, heat their water etc. The sun is a very powerful source of energy. What has the sun got to do with photosynthesis? We can write photosynthesis like this: Carbon Dioxide(gas) + Water => sunlight => Glucose + Oxygen(gas) 6 CO2 + 12 H2O -sunlight-> C6 H12 O6 + 6 H2O + 6 O2 In the process of photosynthesis plants change solar energy into chemical energy. The word photosynthesis comes from two Greek words: photo meaning light and synthesis meaning putting together so photosynthesis means “putting together with light”. The energy from sunlight (solar energy) is used by the plant to make carbon dioxide and water react chemically together and change into glucose (food) and oxygen. In order to do this though they need energy – which they get from sunlight. How do they do this? They make their food by combining carbon dioxide gas that is found in air with water and nutrients that they absorb from the soil. Plants are fortunate as they are the only living organisms that can make their own food. Very few plants can actually trap their own food and none can go grocery shopping so plants need to make their food by themselves if they want to eat!
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