• Question: how do trees gives oxegen?

    Asked by anon-218497 to Anna, Emma, johnpaterson, Richard on 19 Jun 2019. This question was also asked by anon-218495, anon-218422.
    • Photo: Emma Markham

      Emma Markham answered on 19 Jun 2019:

      Trees, like all plants produce oxygen through photosynthesis.

      Sunlight contains energy, and the leaves of plants contain chloroplasts filled with chlorophyll. The chlorophyll captures the energy from the sun by taking the carbon from the air, to help create sugars (which are a great store of energy which can be used by the plant to grow or stored for winter). So the plant takes in carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air and water from the soil, this is used by the chlorophyll to make the sugar and the waste oxygen is released.

      6CO2 + 6H2O > Sunlight > C6H12O6 + 6O2
      carbon dioxide + water > sunlight > sugar + oxygen

      Some plants store the extra energy in special organs, like potatoes or use the extra sugar to make their seeds appetizing to animals so they eat them and spread the seeds (for example fruit like apples).

    • Photo: Anna Gardner

      Anna Gardner answered on 19 Jun 2019:

      The leaves on trees have small hole on the underside. These holes (called Stomata) can open and close depending on if its hot, cold, windy, rainy or humid. In general the more water that I available to the plant the more the holes will be open. Carbon dioxide flows into these holes on the leaf and its then converted (with the help of sunshine) into two products (they are made inside the leaf): 1. Sugar and 2. Oxygen. The sugars are used by the plants (making new leaves and roots) and the oxygen flows out of the holes again. Once oxygen has left the leaf through these holes, we can then breathe it in! Heres a picture so you can understand what it looks like: https://www.e-education.psu.edu/earth103/node/1020

Comments