cellular respiration and photosynthesis
Both photosynthesis and cellular respiration are the main pathways of energy flow in living things. Photosynthesis is the process utilized by autotrophs to produce energy in the form of glucose, through conversion of light energy to chemical energy, while aerobic cellular respiration is the process when oxygen is present, pyruvate and NADH are used to make a large amount of ATP. It converts chemical energy to metabolic through the breakdown of glucose to ATP. There are several similarities and differences between cellular respiration and photosynthesis. Aerobic cellular respiration occurs in the mitochondrion of the cell and photosynthesis occurs in the chloroplast. Photosynthesis occurs in three steps. First, light energy is absorbed from the sun by the pigments in plants (chlorophyll), and when water molecules are split, these chlorophyll molecules take the electrons from the hydrogen atoms, H, leaving the hydrogen ions, H+. The remaining oxygen atoms, O, combine to form oxygen gas (O2). Then the sun’s energy is converted into ATP and NADPH. This is when the electron transport chains happen.