We make a point of teaching the young - in the primary grades - about
photosynthesis. But these are difficulties involved.
Below, a lovely take on it by a botanist, which brings out how a tree is really
a solar captor, with acres of exposed surface. The light is faint, so it takes a lot of surface.
And the pores for gas exchange are really in the bottom. Conclusion:That's why trees
don't move, and we do.
* * *
The formula is a big deal, but stated this way, it misrepresents the situation. The oxygen
put back into circulation is not that from the C02, but actually from water molecules, which are
broken up.
That, to me, seems an important feature. Water is actually broken up and the oxygen released.
That is quite unique for the world of chemistry, which at the most extreme deals with acids, which
are proton donors in solution. It means that photosynthesis is an industry. Primordial.
* * *
And everyone dealing with photosynthesis gets caught up in the fact that the order in which
things happen is not a good narrative order. Let's get clear here:The light sensitive reactions
- triggered by a photon hit - produce energy and worker molecules form the thylakoids, and what
happens first is making sure the energy surface gets proper inputs. The Calvin Cycle is where the
CO2 gets used, and this happens in an entirely different place, in the viscous part of the plant cell.
And it sends back usable energy and worker products so the process can continue.
The sugar product, as our botanist points out, is how plants grow.
* * *
And how did this process ever develop? From what we know, it is the emergence of fatty
membranes that were crucial to the formation of the first living cells. So that phospholipids will
have a star role in our process.
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