Question

Apart from carbon dioxide and water, name four other raw materials which are needed by plants.

Answer 1

Plants are the primary producers in almost all ecosystems. They prepare food and it is used by the consumers. We know that plants require several raw materials in order to complete their metabolic activities.

Complete Answer:
- We all know that plants prepare food by a process called photosynthesis. It happens mainly in the leaves and also other parts of the plants. In this process, plants use solar energy from sunlight and convert it into chemical energy which is used to prepare food.
- Sunlight is an important raw material needed by plants for photosynthesis. Plants perform this process at day time in order to obtain sunlight. Know that there is a pigment that is present in almost all green parts of the plants that traps sunlight for this process. It is called chlorophyll. Keep in mind that there are other pigments like carotenoids and xanthophyll that help to absorb sunlight.
- Plants absorb water mainly from soil through roots. Water is an important raw material for photosynthesis. It enters the root hair and travels to the leaves through water transporting tissue called xylem.
- Plants also need the gas carbon dioxide for preparing food. Other than this, plants also need oxygen for normal respiration. The food prepared by photosynthesis is broken down to produce energy in the form of ATP molecules. This process is called cellular respiration and it requires oxygen.
- Other than photosynthesis, plants also perform several metabolic activities. For this, they require several nutrients that are essential for normal growth and metabolism. Most of them are absorbed from soil as minerals along with water.
- In short, major raw materials needed by plants are carbon dioxide, water, oxygen, sunlight, chlorophyll and other minerals for nutrition.

Note: Several minerals are absorbed from soil that are important for normal metabolism of plants. Essential elements are those which have an important role in normal plant metabolism and are irreplaceable with any other elements. They are further divided into macronutrients and micronutrients based on their amount that are present in plant tissues.