Plants absorb light from the sun and convert the light into chemical energy which drives the reaction that produces sugar and oxygen (commonly referred to as photosynthesis). The reaction is:
6CO2 + 6H2O → C6H12O6 + 6O2
A plant must absorb 48 moles of photons with a wavelength of 430 nm for every mole of sugar that it produces.
Part A) If a plant absorbs 36.5 moles of photons with a wavelength of 430. nm, how much energy in kJ has it absorbed?
Part B) How many moles of sugar could be produced from the 36.5 moles of photons that plant absorbed?
Part C) Although a plant must absorb 48.0 moles of 430. nm photons to produce a mole of sugar, the actual energy of required by the reaction (ΔHrxn) is 2800. kJ/mole. Compare this energy with the total photon energy the plant needed to absorb to produce 0.760 mole of sugar. What percent of the energy of the 36.5 moles of photons was used to make the 0.760 mole of sugar? This is the efficiency of the photosynthesis reaction.