Ne, is it possible for a plant to survive with just CO2?

Question

Meh...what I mean is, if all of the air was sucked out of an enclosed space and left only CO2, and a plant was inside, could it survive?

After all, a plant uses both respiration and photosynthesis, does it not? O_o...and since they produce opposites, wouldn't it be able to support itself by recycling oxygen and CO2 to fuel those processes?...

Eh...I just took a state test this year and that was basically one of my Biology questions...and I just want to make sure I had it right...<_<

Answer 1

It would definitely die. Same reason we would die if the air was made up of entirely oxygen.

Answer 2

Assuming it could photosynthesize fast enough, yes it could. Oxygen is needed as the final electron acceptor in the electron transport chain in the mitochondria, but it is not needed for glycolysis. Plants, like most other organisms, can survive short periods on stored ATP and non-aerobic respiration.

Photosynthesis creates oxygen as a waste product when it splits H20 to rob it of its electrons in the chloroplast electron transport chain. As long as photosynthesis is running, which requires only light and water (the light reactions don&#039;t require a carbon source), then oxygen is being produced.\

EDIT

Don&#039;t confuse a plant&#039;s ability to produce it&#039;s own oxygen with the ability to live without any oxygen at all. A plant needs oxygen, and this is especially evident in parts of the plant that can&#039;t photosynthesize - roots, for example. Roots must still obtain oxygen for respiration through gas diffusion from the stem and vascular elements.

edit x2

I thought about the answer &quot;would die for the same reasons we die in pure oxygen&quot; and I think that might be the most correct, though not for the same reasons we die in pure oxygen, but I think the question is asking more about say, what if a plant was left in a 99% nitrogen/1% co2 environment instead of 80/20 N/O.

Answer 3

I guess theoretically it could survive for a short period but it would need for something to continue to produce CO2 and use the oxygen it was expelling.

Answer 4

Yes,

A plants does use respiration to breath but, it breaths OUT oxygen while it breathes IN carbon dioxide.

The chemical equation for photosynthesis is:

6C02 + 12H20 + photons =&gt; C6H12O6 + 6O2 + 6H20

6CH12O6 = glucose

So a plant can survive on CO2, and photons alone.  It also needs nitrogen for and some minerals, but it gets those from the soil.

There is a plan put forth in Popular Science where a coal plant uses a gasification method to burn coal and the only waste product is CO2.  That gas is then sent into bags that cultivate a specially designed bacteria that eats CO2 and creates biodiesel.  The idea is that you have a totally non-polluting method of power production that creates a useable fuel as a by product.

The technology isn&#039;t perfected and it needs work to make sure the sunlight gets to the bacteria and the chemical level of fuel and CO2 has to be balanced out.