Question

The equation for photosynthesis is 6H2O (water) + 6CO2 (carbon dioxide) + Light Energy → C6H12O6 (glucose) + 6O2 (oxygen). When first discovered, scientists were trying to decide if the oxygen in the product came from carbon dioxide or water. Which statement describes how scientists traced the path of oxygen?

Answer 1

A). They used a radioactive isotope and tracked it with a Becquerel counter.

B.)They used a radioactive isotope and tracked it with a Geiger counter.

C.) They used a stable isotope and tracked it with a Becquerel counter.

D.) They used a stable isotope and tracked it with a Geiger counter.

B.)They used a radioactive isotope and tracked it with a Geiger counter.

Radioactively-labeled water and carbon dioxide were given to plants to test the source of the released oxygen in photosynthesis

The emitted radiations by such a radioisotope could tracked by devices, such as Geiger-Müller countes that detect radioactivity

Step-by-step explanation:

Van Neil proposed that the oxygen from water realised as elemental oxygen while the hydrogen combined in the process of photosynthesis to form glucose

It was later confirmed by Samuel Ruben and Martin Kamen, by using radioisotopes to map out how oxygen flowed in plants. This was by giving one of two groups of plants radioactively-labeled water and unlabeled carbon dioxide while the second group was given

radioactively-labeled carbon dioxide and unlabeled water from where it was observed that oxygen from the group that was given radioactively-labeled was radioactive

Answer 2

There are no given choices. However, I read from online articles that early scientists discovered that the oxygen product of the hypothesis came from water and not from carbon dioxide.

During photosynthesis, the hydrogen from the water molecules are extracted and combined with the glucose leaving behind the oxygen atom that is released to the environment.