Roughly how long ago was the sunlight energy stored in the coal and petroleum burned today captured by photosynthesis?
AAlmost 2 million years ago
BAlmost 20 million years ago
CAlmost 200 million years ago
DAlmost 2000 million years ago
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: C. Almost 200 million years ago
1. The energy of sunlight is stored in the covalent bonds of sugar molecules.
2. Those bonds are remarkably long lasting and stable.
3. Burning coal and petroleum today releases sunlight energy captured almost 200 million years ago.
4. The figure fixes fossil fuel formation to a specific span rather than to any older or younger date.
5. Reading 2 million or 2000 million shifts the figure by two orders of magnitude in either direction.
6. The word almost signals an approximation, so a nearby exact figure cannot be substituted for it.
_Source: OpenStax Biology (1st ed., CC BY 4.0), Ch 8 "Photosynthesis", section 8.1 Overview of Photosynthesis_
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