Unit 1 General Biology Assignment

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Jamarquis Green Written Assignment General Biology 4/13/14 1. Light is a form of energy known as electromagnetic energy it travels through rhythmic waves, the distance between the crests that become formed are called wavelengths these wavelengths range from less than a nanometer which is equivalent to a gamma ray which humans can’t visibly see too more than a kilometer which equivalent to radio waves the entire range of radiation is known as the electromagnetic spectrum which measures light. In plants light energy is used to convert solar energy into chemical energy what this means is that the heat from the light causes the plant to undergo different changes due to the heat that it has absorbed. Also light energy contains ample amounts…show more content…
The Calvin cycle is anabolic, building carbohydrates from smaller molecules and consuming energy. Carbon enters the Calvin cycle in the form of CO2 and leaves in the form of sugars. The cycle spends ATP as energy source and consumes NADPH as a reducing power for adding high energy. The Calvin cycle has 3 phases it undergoes while occurring phase 1 is the carbon fixation, the Calvin cycle incorporates each CO2 molecule one at a time by attaching to its five carbon sugar name RuBP carboxylase, or rubisco the product of this reaction is a six carbon intermediate so unstable that it immediately splits in half forming two molecules of 3 phosphoglycerate, the next phase is Reduction Each molecule receives an additional phosphate group from ATP, becoming 1, 3-biphosphoglycerate. Next a pair of electrons are donated from NADPH reduces 1, 3-bisphosphoglycerate which also loses a phosphate group, becoming G3P. The third and last phase is the Regeneration of the CO2 acceptor ( RuBP) in a complex series of reactions, the carbon skeleton of five molecules of G3P are rearranged by the last steps of the Calvin cycle into three molecules of RuBP. To accomplish this the cycle spends three more molecules of ATP. The RuBP is now prepared to receive CO2 again, and the cycle continues all over…show more content…
* C4 Plants are named because they preface the Calvin cycle with an alternate mode of carbon fixation that forms a four-carbon compound as its first product. Several thousand species in at least 19 plant families use the C4 pathway. Among the C4 plants important to agriculture are sugarcane and corn, also with members of the grass family. In C4 plants there are two distinct types of photosynthetic cells bundle sheaths and mesophyll

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