How is carbon cycled at a global scale?
•Cell Respiration:
–An animal produces carbon dioxide and consumes oxygen in its metabolism of food. Glucose is a typical food and a metabolic reaction can be represented by:
–C6H12O6 + 6O2 à 6 CO2 + 6 H2O
•Photosynthesis:
–A plant and green bacteria, on the other hand, produces oxygen and consumes carbon dioxide.
–Energy in the form of electromagnetic radiation (or photons) is supplied so that the low-energy-content carbon dioxide can be converted to high-energy-content glucose.
–An overall reaction for the complicated multi-step photosynthesis reaction can be represented by:
–6CO2 + 12H2O à C6H12O6 + 6O2 + 6H2O
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