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When plants make glucose, where does the hydrogen come from?
Question Date: 2020-10-14
Answer 1:

As you probably know, plants produce glucose through the process of photosynthesis, which has the following equation:
6CO2 + 6H2O → C6H12O6 + 6O2.

If this equation is not balanced it can seem confusing where the hydrogen comes from, as you would start with 2H in H2O and end up with 12H in C6H12O6. However, when the equation is balanced we can see that it takes 6 molecules of H2O to make one molecule of C6H12O6, which provides the necessary 12H. These hydrogen atoms are released from H2O in an oxidation-reduction reaction driven by light, which is why plants need the sun to survive. This also explains why you get an extra 6O2 on the right side of the reaction; these are the remaining O2 molecules produced via oxidation. Hope this helps!



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