Balanced Photosynthesis Equation

The presence of chlorophyll and the ability to undergo photosynthesis are some attributes that distinguish plants from animals. Photosynthesis is defined as the chemical process, wherein carbon dioxide in the presence of water and radiant energy gets converted to glucose (chemical energy), giving out oxygen as by-products. The balanced photosynthesis equation is nothing, but the representation of glucose synthesis by plants in an equation form.

What is the Photosynthesis Equation?

Green plants along with algae and some bacteria are grouped under photoautotrophs, meaning they can make their own food in the presence of light by photosynthesis. This conversion of light energy into chemical energy occurs in the pigment containing plastids, called chloroplasts. And, what happens in the chloroplasts for glucose production is put forth in the equation for photosynthesis. In the balanced photosynthesis equation, the combining reactants and resulting products are expressed along with their respective numbers of molecules.

Balanced Photosynthesis Chemical Equation

If you understand the basic steps on how to balance a chemical reaction, coming up with balanced photosynthesis equation is very easy. As we all are aware, there are carbon dioxide, water and radiant energy in the reactant side, whereas, the products of the photosynthesis process are glucose and oxygen. Putting this in simplified formula forms, the following represents the photosynthesis equation for kids before balancing.

Step # 1: CO₂ + H₂O + Light energy → C₆H₁₂O₆ + O₂

A chemical reaction is said to be balanced, when both sides of the photosynthesis equation (reactants and products) have the same number of molecules for each of the elements. Needless to mention, the above formula for photosynthesis is not balanced, as there is only one atom of carbon in the reactant side, while there are 6 carbon atoms in the product side. As you try to balance the above equation, put 6 in front of the carbon dioxide molecule, after which the resulting equation will be:

Step # 2: 6 CO₂ + H₂O + Light energy → C₆H₁₂O₆ + O₂

Now, the number of carbon atoms is 6 in both sides. The remaining atoms to be balanced are hydrogen and oxygen. Let's move on to the hydrogen atom, which has only 2 atoms in the reactant side and 12 atoms in the product side. So, in order to balance the number of hydrogen atoms, place 6 in front of the water molecule in the reactant side. With this step, the partly balanced photosynthesis formula is represented by:

Step # 3: 6 CO₂ + 6 H₂O + Light energy → C₆H₁₂O₆ + O₂

With this step, the numbers of carbon and hydrogen atoms are balanced in both sides of the photosynthesis equation. So, the final step is to balance the number of oxygen atoms. Carefully calculate the number of oxygen atoms in the reactant side, which goes like this, 12 atoms from carbon dioxide (6 CO₂) and 6 atoms from water (6 H₂O), total coming to 18 atoms. In the product side, there are 6 atoms from glucose (C₆H₁₂O₆) and 2 atoms from oxygen molecule (O₂), total coming to 8 atoms. And to balance the deficit atoms in product side, put 6 in front of the oxygen molecule:

Step # 4: 6 CO₂ + 6 H₂O + Light energy → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6 O₂

So, this is how you can balance the photosynthesis equation in a step-by-step manner. Putting balanced photosynthesis equation in words, it shows that six molecules each of carbon dioxide and water combine together in the presence of light energy, so as to form one glucose molecule and six oxygen molecules. I hope this article on photosynthesis full balanced equation is useful to you in upgrading your science theory.