Question

In one or two sentences, explain how the chemical equation for cellular respiration shows that plants cycle matter. Include the numbers of molecules and atoms involved to support your explanation.(2 points)

Answer 1

C6H12O6 + 6 O2 → 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + energy, so one glucose molecule plus six O2 molecules (1 C6H12O6 has 6 C, 12 H, 6 O; 6 O2 has 12 O = total 6 C, 12 H, 18 O atoms) is converted into six CO2 (6 C, 12 O) and six H2O (12 H, 6 O) molecules—all atoms are conserved, and plants reuse the produced CO2 and H2O in photosynthesis, completing the matter cycle.