Metabolism Autotrophs such as plants can construct the complex organic molecules in cells such as polysaccharides and proteins from simple molecules like carbon dioxide and water. Heterotrophs, on the other hand, require a source of more complex substances, such as monosaccharides and amino acids, to produce these complex molecules. Organisms can be further classified by ultimate source of their energy: photoautotrophs and photoheterotrophs obtain energy from light, whereas chemoautotrophs and chemoheterotrophs obtain energy from inorganic oxidation reactions. Photosynthesis is the synthesis of carbohydrates from sunlight and carbon dioxide (CO). In plants, cyanobacteria and algae, oxygenic photosynthesis splits water, with oxygen produced
Carbon dioxide The body produces approximately of carbon dioxide per day per person, containing of carbon. In humans, this carbon dioxide is carried through the venous system and is breathed out through the lungs, resulting in lower concentrations in the arteries. The carbon dioxide content of the blood is often given as the partial pressure, which is the pressure which carbon dioxide would have had if it alone occupied the volume. In humans, the blood carbon dioxide contents is shown in the adjacent table: is carried in blood in three different ways. (The exact percentages vary depending whether it is arterial or