... the sugars that sustain life. By converting light energy into chemical energy in the form of carbohydrates, it not only sustains the life of photosynthetic organisms themselves (called autotrophs), but also provides food for the heterotrophs that consume autotrophs. The net reaction of photosynthesis is CO2 + H2O + light energy yields (CH2O) + H2O + O2 where (CH2O) stands for carbohydrate. Overall, photosynthesis consists of two sets of reactions: one that is light dependent and one that is independent of light. In the light dependent reactions use energy from light is absorbed by chlorophyll. This powers the release of electrons from water, which are then transferred to the electron carrier, NADPH. Oxygen is a product of the light dependent reactions. In contrast, the light-independent reactions result in the production of sugar from carbon dioxide. It is useful to study factors that affect rate of photosynthesis in order to determine the ...

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