Photosyhthesis

Energy for living things comes from food. Originally, the energy in food comes from the sun

•Organisms that use light energy from the sun to produce food—autotrophs (auto = self)

 Ex: plants and some microorganisms (some bacteria and protists)

•Organisms that CANNOT use the sun’s energy to make food—heterotrophs

 Ex: animals and most microorganisms

•Photosynthesis is the process by which the energy of sunlight is converted into the energy of glucose

•Photosynthesis occurs in the chloroplasts of plants

•Light absorbing compound is a pigment—pigments absorb some wavelengths of light and reflect others—the color our eyes see is the color that the pigment reflects

•Chlorophyll is the pigment inside the chloroplast the absorbs light for photosynthesis