Is matter created from sunlight in plants?

Answer 1

No. Contrary to popular belief due to the public watching too many Star Trek episodes....Matter is not interchangeable with energy. Remember the basic laws of science? Matter AND Energy can be neither created or destroyed. They change states all the time... but are not created or destroyed. Great Question.

Answer 2

One of the basic principles of physics is that matter and energy can niether be created nor destroyed, only converted into new forms. (energy and matter are interchangeable, unlike some people have said. In neon lights, matter, in the form of gas, is converted into light by electrical stimulation.)
The process of photosynthesis in plants, uses sunlight to convert water (H2O) into oxygen and hydrogen. The oxygen is released by the plant and the hydrogen is further converted into more complex elements.

Answer 3

Antoine Lavoisier in the late 1700s came up with the Law of Conservation of Matter. The law simply states that matter is neither created nor destroyed in a chemical reaction.

That law applies to what happens in plants.

Answer 4

No, sunlight powers the conversion of C02 and H20 into glucose that the plant can use to grow. There isn't any matter in light.

Answer 5

No. Sunlight provides power to the plant so it can extract matter from the air (CO2) and the soil (H2O + lots of nutrients), which it incorporates into its body (mostly starch)

Answer 6

Sort of???
Atoms weigh less than the sum of the nucleons, electrons, because the binding of the nucleons together takes energy, and the missing mass is the energy binding them together. Notice, the atoms weight less, not more because of the binding energy.
I would guess there is a very small loss of mass once the plant has bound the carbon and released oxygen.

Answer 7

No. Its plain chemistry.

If you are talking about the common phrase "sunlight energy being converted to food", i think this refers to the fact that Plants grow only due to photosynthesis (which is the chemical process we are talking about) and this is the basis of the food pyramid. No photosynthesis -> no plants -> no plant eating animals -> no carnivores -> no man!

Answer 8

Sunlight is the energy source to combine CO2 and H2O

Answer 9

No. However, photosynthisis does convert water and nutrients in the soil into the plant

Answer 10

I suspect that you might have something there.A plant high in selenium might actually be producing selenium if there is no selenium present in the soil.(doctoral here)