Purpose of Water in Photosynthesis
Water is one of the most important and ubiquitous molecules in all of life. Because plants lack mobility, they must collect water in the roots and transport it through vascular tissue to each of the individual cells in the leaves. The water has an important effect upon energy production for the plant.
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Photosynthesis
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Photosynthesis is the act by which light is harnessed by an organism for the purpose of converting photon energy into chemical energy that can be used to keep the organism alive. This energy is collected by pigments that are harbored within the chloroplast section of a plant cell. It is not entirely accurate to say that light itself is collected. Rather, the light is acting upon the pigments at a subatomic level.
Particles
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All atoms are made up of subatomic particles. The nucleus of an atom is composed of a positively charged proton and a neutron that carries no charge. The other particle is the electron, which is negatively charged and orbits around the nucleus of an atom. The number of protons usually equals the number of electrons, resulting in a net electrical charge of zero. The first step of photosynthesis within the chloroplasts is to excite electrons toward a higher energy level, using photons so that they can float free from the rest of the atom.
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Water
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At this stage water has multiple purposes. But first it's important to understand the molecular composition of water. As it is commonly known, water has two hydrogen atoms bonded to a single oxygen atom. Hydrogen bonds easily, but it has only one electron and can form only one bond at a time. A plant needs to recoup the electrons that were just lost, so it does this by taking an electron from each hydrogen in the water molecule.
Electrical Charge
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The issue with losing electrons is that they are negatively charged; without them, the hydrogen atoms become unbalanced, gaining a positive charge. But there is also more to it. Hydrogen atoms have no neutrons. Therefore, all that's left of the hydrogen atom is a positively charged proton. Any particle that has an electrical charge can be called an ion.
Byproducts
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The oxygen atom from water goes unused. It is removed from the cell as gas and released back into the air. This is why oxygen is often spoken of as a byproduct from plants. The electrons and hydrogen ions left behind are donated to an acceptor molecule to be taken to the next step in the metabolic process, where they assist in the construction of a glucose molecule for a usable energy source.
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References
- Photo Credit water drop and water rings image by glgec from Fotolia.com
