Photosynthesis is the chemical change that produces food and oxygen in green plants. It is the process of making food by using sunlight. Chlorophyll captures the sun's energy which is needed to produce sugar from carbon dioxide. Photosynthesis happens when green plant cells use water, carbon dioxide, and light to make oxygen, food, and waste products. Photosynthesis takes place in the leaf of the plant.
Photo means light, synthesis means combine with light.
When plants photosynthesize, they give off oxygen. People need oxygen to live. When we exhale, we give off a gas called carbon dioxide. Our bodies do not use this, but plants do for use during photosynthesis. Plants provide oxygen to people and animals through photosynthesis.