Question: whats photosynthsis?

Sam Horrell answered on 14 Jun 2013:

Photosynthesis, in its simplest form, is how a plant converts energy from light into chemical energy it can use to grow, reproduce, move etc. The further up you go in science the more complex this answer gets, and the more fascinating.

I’ll give you a taste of the more complex answer, but don’t worry if it’s confusing. I did this stuff at university level. When a plant absorbs a photon of light in its chloroplast it uses the energy to generate electrons and also break water molecules to get H+ ions, aka protons. These protons and electron then interact with a very clever system of 4 protein complexes called the electron transport chain which move a proton from inside the chloroplast to outside the chloroplast. This produces a molecule called ATP which is used as a way or storing chemical energy for the plant to use as and when it needs it.