Plants perform photosynthesis to create their own food source and use cellular respiration to unlock the energy from that food. In 3-5 sentences, argue which one of these two processes is used at certain times of day by plants. Specifically, which process is used during bright daylight hours, which process is used at night, and which process is used during early morning and late evening low-light hours? Why do you think this is the case?
During bright daylight hours, plants primarily perform photosynthesis to convert sunlight into chemical energy in the form of glucose. This is because photosynthesis requires sunlight as the primary energy source. At night, when sunlight is not available, plants switch to cellular respiration to break down the stored glucose and release energy for their metabolic processes. During early morning and late evening low-light hours, plants rely on a combination of photosynthesis and cellular respiration, as the sunlight intensity is lower, but still present. This is because plants need to maintain their metabolic functions, while also generating some energy from the limited sunlight available.
