Explanation: The products of photosynthesis are glucose and oxygen.
Did you know that oxygen is actually a waste product of photosynthesis? Although the hydrogen atoms from the water molecules are used in the photosynthesis reactions, the oxygen molecules are released as oxygen gas (O2). (This is good news for organisms like humans and plants that use oxygen to carry out cellular respiration!) Oxygen passes out of the leaves through the stomata.
The light-independent reactions of photosynthesis—also known as the Calvin cycle—use enzymes in the stroma, along with the energy-carrying molecules (ATP and NADPH) from the light-dependent reactions, to break down carbon dioxide molecules (CO2) into a form that is used to build glucose.The mitochondria in the plant’s cells use cellular respiration to break glucose down into a usable form of energy (ATP), which fuels all the plant’s activities.
After the light-independent reactions, glucose is often made into larger sugars like sucrose or carbohydrates like starch or cellulose. Sugars leave the leaf through the phloem and can travel to the roots for storage or to other parts of the plant, where they’re used as energy to fuel the plant’s activities.
