How do the lifespans of the light-dependent products compare with those of the light-independent products?
ABoth survive for roughly the same long time
BMillionths of seconds against millions of years
CMillions of years against millionths of seconds
DBoth survive for roughly the same short time
Answer & Solution
Correct answer: B. Millionths of seconds against millions of years
1. Adenosine triphosphate and NADPH are the products of the light-dependent reactions.
2. They have lifespans in the range of millionths of seconds.
3. Carbohydrates and other forms of reduced carbon can survive for hundreds of millions of years.
4. That is why fossil fuels still hold sunlight energy captured long ago.
5. Reversing the two lifespans would make the energy carriers the long-term store, which they are not.
6. The contrast is the whole reason the cell converts short-lived carriers into stable carbon compounds.
_Source: OpenStax Biology (1st ed., CC BY 4.0), Ch 8 "Photosynthesis", section 8.3 Using Light Energy to Make Organic Molecules_
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