Question

State a reason why there is a balance in the amount of carbon dioxide in the air, even though carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere by various processes.

Answer 1

• There is a balance of carbon dioxide in the air because plants utilize all the carbon dioxide that is released into the environment.
• This carbon dioxide that is taken up by the plants is utilized in the process of photosynthesis.
• Photosynthesis: It is defined as a process by which plants produce their own food in the form of glucose, using carbon dioxide, water, sunlight, and chlorophyll. In this process, oxygen is released as a byproduct.

Carbon dioxide + Water $\frac{sunlight}{chlorophyll}$> Carbohydrates + Oxygen

$$\begin{gathered} 6{\mathrm{CO}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)+12{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{l}\right)\underset{\mathrm{chlorophyll}}{\overset{\mathrm{sunlight}}{\to }}{\mathrm{C}}_6{\mathrm{H}}_{12}{\mathrm{O}}_6\left(\mathrm{s}\right)+6{\mathrm{O}}_2\left(\mathrm{g}\right)+6{\mathrm{H}}_2\mathrm{O}\left(\mathrm{l}\right) \\ \mathrm{Carbon}\mathrm{dioxide}\mathrm{Water}\mathrm{Glucose}\mathrm{Carbon}\mathrm{dioxide}\mathrm{Water} \end{gathered}$$

• Hence oxygen within the air is renewed by photosynthesis and thus the amount of oxygen in the air does not get depleted.
• This is how the balance of both carbon dioxide and oxygen is maintained in the environment.