[wildsunflower2]

I can't understand my book when trying to answer "Why is no glucose produced if a plant is kept in the dark, even though the sugar producing reactions are called light-dependent?"

I think it has something to do with C3 cycle but I'm not sure. Any help would be appreciated.

[CraigD]

Originally Posted by wildsunflower2

... "Why is no glucose produced if a plant is kept in the dark, even though the sugar producing reactions are called light-dependent?"...

Purely from the word meaning of the sentence, I get that

• sugar producing reactions are called light-dependent (require light)
• a plant is kept in the dark (gets no light)

It follows directly that if a plant requires light to produce sugar, but gets no light, it will produce no sugar, glucose or any other form. (from an introductory biology text, we get that the only form of sugar produced by photosynthesis is glucose, but that knowledge isn’t necessary for this question)

The question answers itself – it is a tautology, presented as a question. It should read: “No glucose is produced by a plant kept in the dark because the sugar-producing reactions are light-dependent”.

[wildsunflower2]

Well that's what I thought but the answer to the question seemed so obvious to me that I thought I was missing something. Thanks for your help! It's highly appreciated.

[UncleAl]

Participants in a course of instruction generally group into three categories:

1) Instructors.
2) Those who pass.
3) Those who fail.

Failure is a vital process, especially in bonehead and freshman courses. Failure weeds out the stupid, the incompetent, the dysfunctional, the lazy, the mis-assigned... those who would do better to pursue something they can do than something they cannot do, and as soon as possible. Think of it as evolution in action.

Elitism insists the better is preferable to the worse. Uncle Al is an elitist. Government is the antithesis of elitism, as in 320,000 debit cards for $2000 each issued to hurricane Katrina VICTIMS. That's $640 million of taxpayer money shot to crap in a single gulp. What is the total tuition paid at American universities each year for every math, science, engineering, and computer major? Those people will be valuable.

Save the drama for your mama. Get down and push or get out, maggot.

[wildsunflower2]

Some of your posts seem so harsh. Not too sure if they are intended that way but for those of us who are trying to understand the basic science feel intimidated to post again.

[Buffy]

Originally Posted by wildsunflower2

Some of your posts seem so harsh. Not too sure if they are intended that way but for those of us who are trying to understand the basic science feel intimidated to post again.

We probably ought to include a warning about The Uncle in our FAQ. We keep him around because he's insanely smart, although his delivery is, um, "theatrical"... Think of Count Olaf in "A Series of Unfortunate Events" except he's not as larcenous. Take what you get from him and ignore what you don't like. We all end up learning from him. We do slap him around in public if he gets too out of line, but there's only so much you can do about a crazy uncle.

Test-of-faith,
Aunt Buffy

[wildsunflower2]

Thanks for the explaination of the "Crazy Uncle". Won't take his critizism to heart!