Final answer:
Photosynthesis and cellular respiration occur simultaneously in plants. The products of photosynthesis serve as the reactants for cellular respiration, and vice versa. Both processes are essential for plant survival.
Step-by-step explanation:
Photosynthesis and cellular respiration occur at the same time in plants. Photosynthesis occurs in the chloroplasts and produces glucose and oxygen, which are used as the starting products for cellular respiration in the mitochondria. Cellular respiration produces carbon dioxide, water, and ATP, which are the starting products for photosynthesis.
Additionally, the products of photosynthesis are the reactants for cellular respiration. This relationship between the two processes enables life to survive. The equation for cellular respiration is the direct opposite of the equation for photosynthesis.
Plants need both photosynthesis and cellular respiration in order to conduct metabolic processes during both light and dark times. Therefore, plant cells contain both chloroplasts and mitochondria.