How do plants make their own …

The process by which plants make food is named as photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process in which green plants use sunlight to make their own food. Photosynthesis requires sunlight, chlorophyll, water, and carbon dioxide gas. Chlorophyll is a substance in all green plants, especially in the leaves. Plants take in water from the soil and carbon dioxide from the air.  Plants can perform photosynthesis only through leaves and not by other parts of the plant. Leaves have a special green pigment called chlorophyll which helps in the absorption of energy from the sun. The chloroplast present in the cells play a vital role in this process. The various steps involved in the process of photosynthesis are given below:

• Absorption of light energy through the sun by chlorophyll present in leaves.
• Conversion of light energy chemical energy. In this process, the water molecule splits into its respective components hydrogen and oxygen.
• Carbon dioxide is reduced into carbohydrates like glucose by light energy utilizing the hydrogen and oxygen produced in the above step.

The reaction involved in photosynthesis is:

6CO₂+6H₂0→C₆H₁₂O₆+6O₂