Cellular Respiration And Photosynthesis Similarities

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Cells are complex organisms and are capable of acquiring the energy necessary to fuel chemical reactions for growth, repair, survival, and even reproduction. Photosynthesis & cellular respiration are the main pathways of energy flow in all living things. Photosynthesis is a process by which plants and other organisms convert, light energy from the sun, carbon dioxide from the air & water from the earth, into chemical energy stored in molecules such as glucose. Cellular respiration is a process in which oxygen is delivered to cells in an organism & metabolic process in cells leads to the production of ATP by the breakdown of organic substances. Cellular respiration occurs in the mitochondrion of the cell and photosynthesis occurs in the chloroplast. …show more content…

There are two steps in aerobic respiration: Krebs cycle and the electron transport chain. In Krebs cycle, acetyl CoA, which comes from pyruvic acid, is broken down into CO2, hydrogen atoms & ATP. The 2nd stage of aerobic respiration is ETC & chemiosmosis, where most ATP is produced. ETC of both processes is just about the same. So, CO2, H2O & ATP gets produced. The reactants are O2 & C6H12O6.There are many similarities between photosynthesis and cellular respiration. For example, the most important is the steps it goes through. Although they don't occur at same places, they do follow a general guideline but involving different reactants. In photosynthesis, plants can change their process if something isn't available (CAM and C4 plants) and so can animals in cellular respiration (aerobic and fermentation). ETC in both processes has the same task and the same process. There are other differences too, however. Photosynthesis occurs a cell structure called chloroplasts. Pancake-like sections, called thylakoids, divide chloroplasts. A stack of thylakoid is called grana (granum, plug). A grana is enclosed by stroma. The rate of photosynthesis is affected by the amount of CO2, light intensity and the temperature. Respiration occurs in the mitochondria of a cell. Krebs Cycle occurs in mitochondrial matrix, the region of space in the inner membrane. The ETC and chemiosmosis occur in the cristae of the mitochondria. Respiration is the opposite of photosynthesis that is explained by this equation: C6H12O6 + 6 O2 → 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + ATP This equation means that O2 combines with sugars to break molecular bonds, releasing ATP. By-products of this reaction are CO2 and H2O. The process of photosynthesis can be assessed as: 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + Light Energy → C6H12O6 + 6 O2 This equation means that CO2 from the air and H2O combine in the presence of sunlight to form sugars; O2 is released as a by-product of this reaction. In the end, we see that

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