Question

In photosynthesis, carbon dioxide (CO2) and water (H2O) combine to form the sugar glucose (C6H12O6) in the following reaction: 6CO2 + 6H2O → C6H12O6 + ? Assuming this equation is balanced, which part is missing from the product side? (1 point) Responses 12 hydrogen atoms 12 hydrogen atoms 6 oxygen atoms 6 oxygen atoms 12 oxygen atoms 12 oxygen atoms 6 carbon atoms

Answer 1

In the photosynthesis reaction you provided:

6CO2 + 6H2O → C6H12O6 + ?

To determine what is missing from the product side, we must balance the equation completely.

From the reactants:

• There are 6 CO2 molecules which contribute 6 carbon (C) atoms and 12 oxygen (O) atoms.
• There are 6 H2O molecules which contribute 6 hydrogen (H) atoms and 6 oxygen (O) atoms.

Combining these gives us:

• Total carbon (C) = 6 from CO2
• Total hydrogen (H) = 12 from H2O
• Total oxygen (O) = 12 (6 from CO2 and 6 from H2O)

On the product side, glucose (C6H12O6) contains:

• 6 carbon (C) atoms
• 12 hydrogen (H) atoms
• 6 oxygen (O) atoms

Since we have 12 oxygen atoms from the reactants (6 from CO2 and 6 from H2O), and the product side contains 6 oxygen atoms in glucose, we need to account for the remaining oxygen:

6 CO2 + 6 H2O → C6H12O6 + 6 O2

Therefore, the product is 6 oxygen molecules (O2).

The correct answer to "Which part is missing from the product side?" is 6 oxygen atoms.