i just thought of this today but do plants give out an amount of oxygen equal to the carbon dioxide they take?

Question

im wondering this because we seem to have this thing about greenhouse gases which we all know is carbon dioxide but we dont seem to have any oxygen problem. do plants just take in less carbon dioxide and give out more oxygen? please answer im really curious

Answer 1

You're basically thinking right.

The problem is that the vast amounts of CO2 we are producing now are overwhelming the plants ability to take it in. That's why CO2 levels are increasing so rapidly now.

Look at the top two graphs on this page:

http://www.planetforlife.com/gwarm/glob1000.html

The top one shows generally how CO2 levels are rapidly increasing now.. The next one shows very detailed data from Hawaii for recent years. The small decreases are during summer when plants decrease CO2 levels a little. In winter CO2 increases. But, clearly, over the long run, the plants are not able to cope with manmade CO2 as we produce it today. Every year they fall farther behind, and at an increasing rate.

The natural level of oxygen in the air is about a thousand times greater than the natural level of CO2. So there are similar kinds of changes in oxygen, but they're too tiny to see, compared to the natural level.

Answer 2

No. If all the carbon dioxide intake is converted to oxygen output then plants take in the molecular weight of CO2 (44) and output the molecular weight of O2.(32). 32/44 is approximately 73%.

Answer 3

answer the biggest questions first: How do you do away with carbon dioxide, without generating extra poisons contained in the approach? when you've that found out, putting apart out the carbon dioxide is comparatively worry-free -- make dry ice (solid carbon dioxide). you need an fairly intense stress gadget, yet except that dry ice is comparatively worry-free to make.

Answer 4

they give out more oxygen, but since matter cannot be created/destroyed, some carbon stays behind in the plant matter.

Answer 5

Plants also use the CO2 they take in with the water and minerals they take in from their roots to form all sorts of carbohydrates, so I would say that they output less O2 than the CO2 they take in.

Answer 6

I want to give you a pat on the back. This is a great question! I can't answer it, but I want to acknowledge your curiosity. By modifying it slightly, you have a wonderful hypothesis to be researched. Keep this in mind when you need a science fair project.

Answer 7

They make more oxygen then they need, that way they recycle our air.

Actually, 3/4 of our Earth's oxygen recycling is done by phytoplankten! (Small single-celled organisms)

Hope that helps!