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Physics, Astronomy & Cosmology / Does photosynthesis increase the earth's mass?
« on: 30/08/2007 13:24:04 »
Hi, I’m a bit confused, can any one help –
Plants use light energy to grow. I believe that this means that some of the energy of the incident photons is absorbed by the plant’s pigments, and the rest comes out of the plant as green light.
The plant uses the absorbed energy to synthesise sugars from CO2 and water that it uses to grow, and it thus increases its mass.
So, my question is, If they are absorbing somthing from the sun,
does photosynthesis directly increase the mass of the earth through photon absorption or does light only act as a catalyst for changing mass that already exists from one substance into another?
Plants use light energy to grow. I believe that this means that some of the energy of the incident photons is absorbed by the plant’s pigments, and the rest comes out of the plant as green light.
The plant uses the absorbed energy to synthesise sugars from CO2 and water that it uses to grow, and it thus increases its mass.
So, my question is, If they are absorbing somthing from the sun,
does photosynthesis directly increase the mass of the earth through photon absorption or does light only act as a catalyst for changing mass that already exists from one substance into another?