How the Plants Nourish Themselves

Abstract

We have already mentioned that plants are sort of “natural factories” that have the capacity to produce very complicated organic molecules from a simple form of carbon (carbon dioxide, CO₂). The process of this transformation is called photosynthesis. The term has its root in Greek, phôs meaning light, since light is the energy needed to arrange carbon atoms to enter manifold bonds in organic molecules. This conserved energy is released when we burn wood, coal, or dried grass, and everybody has the opportunity to feel some of this released energy as warm air around the flames.