• Question: We breath in oxygen and let out the waste air carbon-dioxide. Why is it that plants breath in the waste air carbon-dioxide when it is a living thing?

    Asked by Resh@science to Chris, Hayley, Jimi on 17 Mar 2016. This question was also asked by Deeps 2005.
    • Photo: Hayley Moulding

      Hayley Moulding answered on 17 Mar 2016:

      OHH amazing. So Carbon dioxide to plants is not waste. Plants need the carbon dioxide like we need the oxygen. Plants are living things you are right! They just have different chemical reactions going on inside them compared to us which makes them need the carbon dioxide. Plants need to photosynthesise to make big carbohydrates to survive and it needs the sunlight and oxygen to do so. At night time, there is no sunshine. The plant then instead of doing photosynthesis, will do respiration. It will then breathe in oxygen like we do!

    • Photo: Jimi Wills

      Jimi Wills answered on 17 Mar 2016:

      In the daytime, when there is sunlight, plants use the sunlight to break up the carbon dioxide, so they can use the carbon from make stuff.

      But at night-time, the plants breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide, just like us.

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