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Plants and Semiconductors

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Plants and Semiconductors
A Contrast and Comparison of Energy Conversion
J’Haun Egerson
Strayer University

Photosynthesis is the process used by plants to harness the suns energy. The plants use this harnessed energy to produce food. The leaves of plants help trap the energy from sunlight. The process of photosynthesis transforms the solar energy into the chemical energy of a carbohydrate. Photosynthesis occurs mainly in plant leaves, little to none occurs in the stems, roots, etc. To dive a little deeper, the process of photosynthesis takes place in the chloroplasts. Chloroplasts have two major parts. The grana are made up of thylakoids. Thylakoids are membranous disks that contain photosynthetic pigments such as chlorophyll. These pigments absorb solar energy. The other part is the stroma, it is a fluid filled space where carbon dioxide is enzymatically reduced to a carbohydrate such as glucose.1
Today the semiconductor exists to harness solar power as well. A semiconductor is a solar cell that harnesses solar energy and converts it into electricity. The electricity that the semiconductor harnesses is used by people. People use electricity everyday. It runs our useful appliances, video games, televisions, and more.
Both plants and semiconductors are similar in that they both harness solar energy from the sun. Both plants and semiconductors have cells. They use the cells to trap the energy from the sun. Semiconductors have solar cells that function to trap the energy harnessed from the sun and convert it into energy. Plants cells trap the energy from the sun and convert it into more useful products. The conversion of the sun’s energy by both the semiconductor and plants results in products that are useful to humans.
The differences between semiconductors and plants are evident in the product of the processing of the harnessed solar energy. Semiconductors convert the solar energy into electricity. Plants convert their harnessed energy into chemical energy. So they produce two distinctly different types of energy after they process solar energy. One of the most noticeable differences between plants and semiconductors is the nature of how they came to exist. Plants are a natural occurrence and semiconductors are man made. Plants exist naturally to harness solar energy that is more naturally beneficial to the environment. The ecosystem benefits from photosynthesis as a whole; this includes all living organisms in some way. Only people benefit from the electricity that’s produced from the semiconductors conversion.
Energy can be changed from one form to another, but it cannot be created or destroyed. The total amount of energy and matter in the Universe remains constant, merely changing from one form to another. The First Law of Thermodynamics (Conservation) states that energy is always conserved; it cannot be created or destroyed. In essence, energy can be converted from one form into another; this is true of both plants and semiconductors. The Second Law of Thermodynamics states that "in all energy exchanges, if no energy enters or leaves the system, the potential energy of the state will always be less than that of the initial state, both plants and semiconductors obey this law as well. The third law of thermodynamics states that if all the thermal motion of molecules (kinetic energy) could be removed, a state called absolute zero would occur. Both plants and semiconductors need to trap energy from the sun constantly; they obey the third law of thermodynamics too.

References:
Mader, Sylvia S. (2009) Essentials of Biology, McGraw-Hill Science/Engineering/Math; 2nd edition

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