IB Biology C1.3 Notes

Further Photosynthesis

You learned the basics of photosynthesis, which is the process by which a cell uses light, CO₂, and water to generate organic compounds and O₂. You learned that this process relies on chlorophyll to split water and use the electrons to produce organic materials. However, you need to learn this process in more detail.

Photosynthesis is typically divided into two stages: 

1. Light-dependent reactions - in this stage, light is used to split water and drive the phosphorylation of ADP into ATP and the reductiton of NADP into NADPH. This is also called photophosphorylation.
2. Light-independent reactions - in this stage, ATP and NADPH are used to fix CO₂ to form glucose and other organic compounds. The component of this you need to know is the Calvin cycle.