Photosynthesis vs Cellular Respiration
What does Photosynthesis mean?
Well, “photo” means light and
“synthesis” means putting together!
Photosynthesis
Plants need food but they do not have to wait on people or animals to provide for them. Most plants are able to make their own food whenever they need it. This is done using light and the process is called photosynthesis. For this process to happen, plants need three things: Carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight. Carbon dioxide comes from the air and passes through small pores (holes) in the leaves. These pores are called stomata. Water is absorbed by the roots and passes through vessels in the stem on its way to the leaves. Sunlight is absorbed by a green chemical in the leaves known as chloroplast. After obtaining this sunlight the plant is able to combine it with the carbon dioxide found in the air and the water it takes up with its roots. From the photosynthesis process the plant gets glucose which is essential to the plant's survival and will also allow it to grow.
Cellular Respiration
Cellular respiration is the process by which the body converts glucose sugar into energy that it can use as fuel. Sugar is a carbohydrate the body extracts when it digests food, and the conversion of sugar to energy is the human and animal equivalent of photosynthesis in the plant world. Cellular respiration involves five crucial building blocks, including sugar, oxygen, carbon dioxide, water and energy. These all help the process along as they each add their own piece to the cellular respiration cycle. Cellular respiration is constantly happening. The glucose and oxygen gained from organisms who undergo photosynthesis (as well as those who eat those who undergo photosynthesis) is broken down into water, energy, and carbon dioxide. Water of course is an essential resource for many organisms, energy is needed to perform everyday actions like walking, and carbon dioxide is used by plants and algae which fulfills the cycle.
How do they work together?
Photosynthesis and respiration are reactions that complement each other in the environment, in other words they work together. One way to look at Photosythesis and Cellular Respiration is that they are just the reverse of each other. In the photosynthesis process carbon dioxide and water yield glucose (sugar) and oxygen. Then the cellular respiration process uses the glucose and oxygen to create carbon dioxide and water. This is how they complement each other, they provide each other with the ways to create their own food and energy, maintaining an endless cycle. Another way to look at it would be that photosynthesis creates energy and cellular respiration burns it.
They work well since living organisms supply plants and algae with carbon dioxide which use it to undergo photosynthesis. The plants and bacteria produces glucose and gives out oxygen which all animals and many bacteria need for cellular respiration.
Similarities and differences
There are many similarities and differences between cellular respiration and photosynthesis. Some core similarities between the two are: the production of ATP (the refined version of energy that your body can actually use), they both involve the exchange of the gasses (oxygen and carbon dioxide), they both transform energy, and so on. There are also many differences between cellular respiration and photosynthesis, including: fate of oxygen and carbon dioxide (CP: oxygen is absorbed and carbon dioxide is released, PS: Carbon dioxide is absorbed and oxygen is released), their main function (CP: breakdown of food, energy release, PS: Production of food, energy capture), and so on.
