The process (below) appears to create both Oxygen and Sugar as by-products - lol.
Photosynthetic Process--Part 1
- Light energy called photons strike the individual chlorophyll pigments of the cells making up the plant's leaves. These photons are part of the housing body of the chlorophyll called chloroplasts. These chloroplasts are in turn a structure within each cell of the plant called organelles. They are completely unique to photoautotrophic plants and are where the photosynthesis occurs.
Photosynthetic Process--Part 2
- Once light energy has excited a sufficient amount of chlorophyll, the light energy is brought to a singular part of the chloroplast. Carbon dioxide molecules, water molecules and a natural chemical called adenosine diphosphate are combined using light energy as a catalyst for the chemical reaction. This reaction produces pure oxygen, which is given off as an unwanted byproduct, and a new chemical called adenosine triphosphate or ATP.
Photosynthetic Process--Part 3
- The ATP molecules are transferred to the cells of the plant that are in need of chemical energy. They are then brought to another part of the chloroplasts within the plant cells called the stroma. The stroma are considered the powerhouses of the plant cell and are the sites where the Calvin cycle takes place. This process is not entirely understood and still under debate, but essentially it produces glucose-6-phosphate, otherwise known as glucose. This is a sugar that the cell can use for immediate metabolic function, completing the photosynthetic process.