Start learning →

AP Biology Photosynthesis — practice questions

Explore 56 free Photosynthesis questions in AP Biology Biology. Open each question or exercise to read its content, reference answers and available explanation.

Practise Photosynthesis with Quill →

Photosynthesis questions and exercises with answers

Showing questions 1–30 of 56.

Organisms that use light to manufacture their own food are called:Read the answer and worked solution →Animals, fungi and most bacteria rely on sugars made by others, so they are termed:Read the answer and worked solution →The light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis take place in the:Read the answer and worked solution →The Calvin cycle takes place in which part of the chloroplast?Read the answer and worked solution →Chlorophyll looks green because green light is:Read the answer and worked solution →Photosynthesis powers roughly what share of Earth's ecosystems?Read the answer and worked solution →Plant pigments absorb light only in the wavelength range:Read the answer and worked solution →Within visible light, which colour carries the least energy?Read the answer and worked solution →The two major classes of photosynthetic pigment in plants and algae are carotenoids and:Read the answer and worked solution →Besides absorbing light, many carotenoids protect the plant by:Read the answer and worked solution →The multiprotein complexes embedded in the thylakoid membrane are named:Read the answer and worked solution →Energy hops from chlorophyll to chlorophyll before reaching the reaction centre, taking about:Read the answer and worked solution →The flow of hydrogen ions through ATP synthase is called:Read the answer and worked solution →The three-carbon carbohydrate that carbon dioxide is first fixed into is:Read the answer and worked solution →How many turns of the Calvin cycle are needed before one G3P leaves it?Read the answer and worked solution →The coal and petroleum burned today store sunlight captured by photosynthesis roughly:Read the answer and worked solution →Bacteria that build sugars using energy from inorganic chemicals rather than light are:Read the answer and worked solution →Light of energy higher than blue damages pigment molecules in a process called:Read the answer and worked solution →Roughly what share of the oxygen produced in a leaf is used by the leaf's own mitochondria?Read the answer and worked solution →The light-independent reactions still depend on the light reactions because they need:Read the answer and worked solution →Light reactions or Calvin cycle?Read the answer and worked solution →Autotroph or heterotroph?Read the answer and worked solution →Match each part to what it doesRead the answer and worked solution →Complete the light ruleRead the answer and worked solution →True or false: photosynthesisRead the answer and worked solution →Count the Calvin cycleRead the answer and worked solution →Plants, algae and cyanobacteria that use light to make their own food are called:Read the answer and worked solution →Bacteria at a deep sea vent make sugars using energy from inorganic chemicals. They are:Read the answer and worked solution →Photosynthesis powers what share of Earth's ecosystems?Read the answer and worked solution →In leaves, most photosynthesis occurs in the middle cell layer called the:Read the answer and worked solution →

Worked practice questions

Organisms that use light to manufacture their own food are called:

  1. Photoautotrophs
  2. Chemoautotrophs
  3. Photoheterotrophs
  4. Chemoheterotrophs
Show answer and solution

Correct answer: A. Photoautotrophs

1. The prefix photo- records the energy source and the suffix -troph the feeding style. 2. An organism that builds its own food is an autotroph. 3. Because they use light to manufacture their own food, they are called photoautotrophs, literally self-feeders using light. 4. Chemoautotrophs build sugars from inorganic chemical energy instead of light. _Source: OpenStax Biology for AP(R) Courses (CC BY 4.0), Ch 8 'Photosynthesis', sections 8.1-8.3_

Open this question →

Animals, fungi and most bacteria rely on sugars made by others, so they are termed:

  1. Autotrophs
  2. Heterotrophs
  3. Phototrophs
  4. Lithotrophs
Show answer and solution

Correct answer: B. Heterotrophs

1. The prefix hetero- means other. 2. These organisms cannot fix their own carbon. 3. Other organisms, such as animals, fungi, and most other bacteria, are termed heterotrophs, other feeders. 4. They must rely on the sugars produced by photosynthetic organisms for their energy needs. _Source: OpenStax Biology for AP(R) Courses (CC BY 4.0), Ch 8 'Photosynthesis', sections 8.1-8.3_

Open this question →

The light-dependent reactions of photosynthesis take place in the:

  1. The cell nucleus
  2. The cytoplasm
  3. Thylakoid membranes
  4. Ribosome surfaces
Show answer and solution

Correct answer: C. Thylakoid membranes

1. A chloroplast has two very different internal compartments. 2. The membranes stacked inside it hold the pigment complexes. 3. The light-dependent reactions occur in the thylakoid membranes of chloroplasts. 4. The Calvin cycle occurs in the stroma of chloroplasts instead. _Source: OpenStax Biology for AP(R) Courses (CC BY 4.0), Ch 8 'Photosynthesis', sections 8.1-8.3_

Open this question →

How to practise

  1. Choose a Photosynthesis question and try to work out your answer.
  2. Open the question to check the correct answer and read its worked solution.
  3. Continue in the app for bite-sized lessons, explanations and review with Quill. You can start without creating an account.

More Biology topics

Gene ExpressionEcology and the BiosphereEvolution and the Origin of SpeciesDNA Structure and FunctionCell StructureBiological MacromoleculesCellular RespirationMetabolism