Table of Contents
During what energy from the Sun is stored in the bonds of sugar molecules?
Solar energy is required to synthesize a molecule of glucose during the reactions of photosynthesis. In photosynthesis, light energy from the sun is initially transformed into chemical energy that is temporally stored in the energy carrier molecules ATP and NADPH (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate).
What is the process of releasing energy stored in sugar molecules called?
cellular respiration
Through the process of cellular respiration, the energy in food is converted into energy that can be used by the body’s cells. During cellular respiration, glucose and oxygen are converted into carbon dioxide and water, and the energy is transferred to ATP.
How do plants and animals use the energy stored in glucose?
Plants and animals use glucose as a soluble, easily distributed form of chemical energy which can be ‘burnt’ in the cytoplasm and mitochondria to release carbon dioxide, water and energy. Very often the addition of one or more sugar molecules will make the recipient molecule more soluble.
Where is the energy stored in a starch molecule?
Both plant and animal cells store the energy of glucose in these starch molecules for later use. Starch molecules may be found in chloroplasts. If a plant cell has a lot of extra starch molecules, then the starch gets stored in a separate structure known as a leucoplast.
How is glucose broken down energy?
During cellular respiration, glucose is broken down in the presence of oxygen to produce carbon dioxide and water. Energy released during the reaction is captured by the energy-carrying molecule ATP (adenosine triphosphate).
Where is the sun’s energy stored in glucose?
In a process called photosynthesis, the green pigment (chlorophyll) in plant cells uses the energy from the sunlight to make glucose (C6H12O6) and oxygen (O2) out of the carbon dioxide and water molecules. Through the magic of chemistry, the sunlight is now trapped inside the bonds of the glucose molecule.
How does photosynthesis convert light energy into chemical energy?
During photosynthesis, plants convert light energy into chemical energy by building carbon dioxide gas molecules (CO 2) into sugar molecules like glucose. Because this process involves building bonds to synthesize a large molecule, it requires an input of energy (light) to proceed.
How is energy stored in the bonds of food molecules?
Plants use light energy to produce food chemicals, and the light energy is thus stored in the bonds of the food molecules. Plants and animals use this stored bond energy as fuel for their cells. If the sun stopped radiating light, first the autotrophic plants would die, followed by all of the heterotrophic animals.
How are cells able to extract energy from glucose?
To extract energy from nutrient molecules, cells use the reactions of glycolysis to split glucose molecules. Other reactions and pathways then capture the energy in the chemical bonds of the breakdown product, pyruvic acid. ATP stores the released energy. 3.