2

How do plants get their food ?

90.20kg soil
90.72kg soil

In the 17th Century, A Belgian physician, van Helmont, set up an

experiment in which he planted a willow sapling in a weighed
amount of soil.

The soil was watered but nothing else was added. After 5 years, the
tree had gained 74kg in weight but the soil had lost only 52g.
van Helmont concluded that the tree had made 74kg of new growth
from water alone
 3

van Helmont’s experiment was effective in showing

that the plant’s food did not come from the soil.
But he had overlooked the fact that air was available
to the plant as well as water.
Could it be that the plant made 74kg of material
from just air and water?
This might seem unlikely but we now know that
plants do indeed make their food from carbon
dioxide from the air and water from the soil.
 Animals get their food … 5

or (c) other animals

... plant
by eating
products,
plants or ...

Plants make their food by photosynthesis

• Green Plants make their own food using
simple inorganic substances – carbon
dioxide, water and minerals from air and
soil.
• Plants build these substances into complex
organic substances like carbohydrates. Glucose
• If we just mix CO2 and H2O , they will not
make glucose, they have to be given Chlorophyll
energy for that. Green plants use sunlight Oxygen
energy for this. This sunlight energy has to
be trapped and then used. Chlorophyll
does that in green plants. Chlorophyll is
present inside the chloroplasts of plant
cells
• The fundamental process by which plants
manufacture food (carbohydrates) from
raw materials (CO2 and H2O) using
sunlight energy is called Photosynthesis
 7

CO2 H2O

CO2
H2O

CO2 H2O

C6H12O6
CO2 H2O
+

6O2
CO2 H 2O

CO2 H2O

6 molecules of carbon dioxide combine with 6 molecules of water

to make one molecule of glucose and 6 molecules of oxygen
Chlorophyll is a green
coloured pigment

It is present in the
leaves of green plants

The chlorophyll in the

cells is packaged into
tiny structures called
chloroplasts
 12
All the reactions to combine CO2 and H2O take place
in the chloroplast
sunlight palisade cell
of leaf

water
in the chloroplast,
carbon dioxide and
water combine to
make sugar
carbon dioxide
Leaf Adaptations
1) For CO2 - Only 0.04% of the air is CO2 and hence the leaf must be very efficient at
absorbing it. The large surface area of the leaf helps to expose it to as much air as possible.
CO2 gets into the leaf through stomata by diffusion. Behind each stoma is an air space
between the spongy mesophyll cells through which it diffuses to all cells in the leaf. CO2
diffuses through cell wall and membrane of each cell and into the chloroplasts.

2) For Water - Water is absorbed by the root hairs and carried up to the leaf in the xylem
vessels. It then travels from the xylem vessels to the mesophyll cells by osmosis

3) For Sunlight – The position of a leaf and its broad flat surface helps it to obtain as much
sunlight as possible. The thinness of the leaf allows the sunlight to penetrate right through it
and reach all the cells. To help this the epidermal cells are transparent, with no chloroplasts.
In the mesophyll cells the chloroplasts are arranged to get as much sunlight as possible. Inside
them the chlorophyll is arranged in flat membranes to expose as much as possible to sunlight.
 End of Section Questions :
Textbook Pg 62 and 63 -
Start solving in your Notebook
Products of Photosynthesis and its uses

1) Glucose is broken down by respiration, to release Energy

2) Glucose being a simple sugar is soluble in water and hence not a good storage molecule.
So Glucose is converted into starch for Storage. Starch is a polysaccharide which is not
very reactive and not very soluble.

3) Glucose is also used by plants to make cellulose( for making cell Walls ), fats, oils

4) Oxygen is used for Respiration

5) Plants absorb nitrate ions through root hairs from the soil by active transport. These
then combine with glucose to form amino acids which in turn form proteins.

6) Plants absorb nitrogen and magnesium from the soil to make Chlorophyll
End of Section Questions :
Textbook Pg 65
Start solving in your
Notebook
Testing leaves for Starch

Which Test is used?

Which color will show that the Starch is present?

Will the Leaf containing Starch change its color if we put the solution onto it directly?

If not why?

What all things have to be done before testing a leaf for Starch? And How?

Read Activities 6.2 , 6.3, 6.4 and 6.5 from the textbook

What is the difference between a “ Control plant” and “Experimental plant” ?

Limiting Factors –

What is a limiting Factor? A substance which limits the rate of a reaction/ limits the growth and development of an
organism/ something present in a short supply which restricts life processes

Limiting factors for Photosynthesis –

As light intensity increases, the rate of photosynthesis increases

until the plant photosynthesizes as fast as it can (curve 1)
after that even if the light becomes brighter,
the plant cannot go any faster (curve 2)
So light is a limiting factor only for curve 1

As the concentration of Carbon dioxide goes on increasing the

plant photosynthesizes faster upto a point but then maximum
is reached.
Also CO2 diffuses into a leaf through stomata which are
often close if the weather is very hot and sunny to prevent
water loss. So on a really hot day photosynthesis rate
drops
What is a glasshouse?
How can a glasshouse be used to provide
optimum conditions for photosynthesis of
crop plants?
Importance –

• Basic reaction which brings energy of the Sun into Ecosystems and important energy source
• The flow of energy is one way and hence there is a need for constant replenishment of energy and hence
photosynthesis
• Essential for maintaining constant global level of oxygen and carbon dioxide. Oxygen is required for
respiration