It’s easy conceptually to understand when animals eat physical food matter, it adds to their own body mass as they grow.
But potted plants grow 2x, 3x, etc their mass while the only (seemingly) inputs are Sun, water and occasional plant food. The soil level doesn’t seem to change much either, so where is the “material” coming from to make the plant bigger? Is it just from what I mentioned, and is there an easy way to understand how those things transforms to plant mass?
Edit: Thanks for all the answers! It unexpectedly helped me understand how plants capture carbon from the air and “store” it physically. I have a new appreciation for my houseplants 🪴
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In 1640s van Helmont discovered that plants DO NOT eat soil and that the weight of the plant must come from water. He had no idea about gasses playing a role in plant growth.
In 1772 Priestley discovered that plants replenish oxygen in an low-oxygen chamber.
In 1778 Ingen-Housz discovered that the effect Priestly discovered only when the plant was illuminated and ONLY in the green parts of the plant.
Senebier made the connection with CO2, albeit incorrect.
Greater clarity about photosynthesis would follow in the following years!
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