Respiration In Plants

Plants use carbon dioxide gas in the process of photosynthesis, and exhale oxygen gas as waste. The chemical equation of photosynthesis is 6 CO₂ (carbon dioxide) and 6 H₂O (water), which in the presence of sunlight makes C₆H₁₂O₆ (glucose) and 6 O₂(oxygen). Photosynthesis uses electrons on the carbon atoms as the repository for the energy obtained from sunlight. Respiration is the opposite of photosynthesis. It reclaims the energy to power chemical reactions in cells. In so doing the carbon atoms and their electrons are combined with oxygen forming CO₂ which is easily removed from both the cells and the organism. Plants use both processes, photosynthesis to capture the energy and oxidative metabolism to use it.

Plant respiration is limited by the process of diffusion. Plants take in carbon dioxide through holes, known as stomata, that can open and close on the undersides of their leaves and sometimes other parts of their anatomy. Most plants require some oxygen for catabolic processes (break-down reactions that release energy). But the quantity of O₂ used per hour is small as they are not involved in activities that require high rates of aerobic metabolism. Their requirement for air, however, is very high as they need CO₂ for photosynthesis, which constitutes only 0.04% of the environmental air. Thus, to make 1 g of glucose requires the removal of all the CO₂ from at least 18.7 liters of air at sea level. But inefficiencies in the photosynthetic process cause considerably greater volumes of air to be used.