I’ve Googled and every source I come across just says “plants gather (light) energy from the sun and use it for photosynthesis.” What exactly is “light energy”? Is is some sort of radiation? Is it just heat?
In: Planetary Science
The process is complicated, but at it’s base it uses solar energy to separate water into oxygen and hydrogen ions. The reaction is actually electrochemical in nature, and electrons for this reaction are produced by light’s photons knocking them loose in chlorophyll molecules.
Technological analog would be having a photovoltaic cell used to electrolyze water.
Oxygen is released since plants have no use for it, but hydrogen ions are then reacted with carbon dioxide to make sugars and water, but that part of the reaction doesn’t need further energy input.
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