Photosynthesis

The process of producing food with the help of chlorophyll is called photosynthesis.

How to read the equation

• Two inputs — carbon dioxide from the air, water from the roots.
• Two outputs — glucose (the food) and oxygen.
• The two written above and below the arrow are not reactants — sunlight is the energy that drives the process and chlorophyll is what captures it. Neither ends up inside the glucose.

Where does the food go?

The food made in the leaves is stored in the plant's stem, roots, leaves or fruits. When you eat a potato or a coconut, what you are really taking in is the result of photosynthesis that happened inside a leaf some time ago.