Question

You eat food which supplies energy AND building blocks to give you matter in which to grow (add new cells and weight). Where does a plant get its matter to grow and specifically to make wood? From soil? From the air? From water? From some other source? Explain your answer.

Answer 1

Plants obtain the matter to grow from lots of sources. Some aquatic plants obtain them from water and terrestrial plants obtain minerals from soil . Plants have specialised organs called roots which get transported upwards through xylem and phloem ,literally which are vascular elements in plants . From soil they absorb these nutrients through roots .

Plants absorb water from the soil through roots and transport it to the leaves .

Plants obtain carbon for the production of carbohydrates from atmospheric carbon dioxide . Through a process called photosynthesis they convert light energy to ATP . And produce their own food green plants are therefore known as autotrophs .

Plants which do not possess chlorophyll cannot produce their own food . They acts as parasite and they will get attached to other plants absorb minerals and food from them .

Some soil condition may lack nitrogen . Plants which grow at such conditions may have symbiotic association of nutrogen fixing bacteria on thert roots. These bacteria absorb atmospheric nitrogen and plants absorb that easily .