How is C6H12O6 important to photosynthesis and cellular respiration?

Answer 1

C6H12O6 (glucose) is relevant to both of these processes, because...

Glucose is the end product of photosynthesis. After generating ATP and NADPH from the "light reactions" in the electron transport chain, both these molecules (ATP and NADPH) go on to power the Calvin Cycle, or "dark reaction". The end product of the Calvin Cycle is a molecule of G3P, which is made into glucose.

Cellular respiration is essentially the "inverse" of photosynthesis- where photosynthesis makes glucose, cellular respiration breaks it down into ATP, so that it might be used by the cell. There is aerobic and anaerobic cellular respiration, which occur differently, but the common goal of the two processes is to break down glucose. Glycolysis precedes cellular respiration itself, which is the actual process of breaking down the glucose molecules into pyruvate.

Answer 2

C6H12O6 (glucose) serves as a key energy source in both photosynthesis and cellular respiration. In photosynthesis, plants synthesize glucose using CO2, water, and sunlight energy. During cellular respiration, glucose is broken down in the presence of oxygen to produce ATP, the energy currency of the cell.