Siblings, Not Twins.

Explain the relationship between photosynthesis and cellular respiration at the molecular, organismal, and ecosystem levels of organization.

Photosynthesis and cellular respiration are very similar because they are essentially the reverse process of one another. Photosynthesis uses energy to create sugar, and cellular respiration breaks down sugar to create energy.

Photosynthesis: 6CO₂ + 6H₂O → C₆H₁₂O₆+ 6O₂

Cellular Respiration: C₆H₁₂O₆+ 6O₂ → 6CO₂ + 6H₂O + energy

So on the molecular level, these two are palindromes of each other.

The only organisms that have photosynthesis are plants, other organisms only have cellular respiration. So in an ecosystem, trees and other plants would use photosynthesis to create food for themselves. In the process, they would expel oxygen, which powers the animal kingdom’s ability to breath and ability to go through cellular respiration.