How do autotrophs capture the energy in sunlight?

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How do autotrophs capture the energy in sunlight?

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Answer 1 · 2018-03-17T07:44:38

Sunlight is absorbed by the green pigment, chlorophyll and the solar energy is converted into chemical energy in the form of $ATP$ $"ATP"$ .

Explanation:

Autotrophs capture sunlight by the pigment chlorophyll and is used for the synthesis of glucose $(C_{6} H_{12} O_{6})$ $(C_6H_12O_6)$ from simple, inorganic substances like $C O_{2}$ $CO_2$ and $H_{2} O$ $H_2O$ during photosynthesis.

Photosynthesis occurs in 2 steps:

1. Hill's reaction

2. Dark reaction

Light reaction or Hill's reaction involves capturing sunlight and converting solar energy into chemical energy in the form of $ATP$ $"ATP"$ . This occurs by breakdown of water into $H^{+}$ $H^+$ ions and $O^{2 -}$ $O^(2-)$ ions. This is termed by photolysis of water. Excited electrons from $O^{2 -}$ $O^(2-)$ pass through a series of electron carriers, losing energy during their passage. This energy is converted into $ATP$ $"ATP"$ . The remaining $H^{+}$ $H^+$ ions reduce $NADP$ $"NADP"$ to $NADPH$ $"NADPH"$ .

$ATP$ $"ATP"$ and $NADPH$ $"NADPH"$ produced during light reaction are used in the dark reaction for reduction of $C O_{2}$ $CO_2$ to $C_{6} H_{12} O_{6}$ $C_6H_12O_6$ .

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How do autotrophs capture the energy in sunlight?

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