lesson
Carbon moves between stores
1 · Learn
Carbon is present in organisms, the atmosphere, oceans and rocks. Photosynthesis transfers carbon from carbon dioxide into organic material; feeding transfers it through food webs. Respiration, decomposition and combustion can return carbon dioxide to the atmosphere.
A carbon store is an amount held; a transfer is a process moving carbon. Carbon is not created by respiration or destroyed by photosynthesis.
2 · Worked example
Burning a carbon-containing fuel transfers carbon that was in the fuel into products including carbon dioxide when combustion is complete.
3 · Your turn
Which process transfers carbon from atmospheric carbon dioxide into plant organic material?
Check your answer
Photosynthesis.
4 · Apply your learning
Draw stores as boxes and processes as labelled arrows, checking that matter is accounted for.
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Check a calculation · Year 5 onward
Use this only when your teacher or adult allows a calculator for the task. Show your thinking first. It does not replace mental or written arithmetic and does not mark your lesson answer.
Powers, roots and trigonometry · Year 7 onward
Use only when the task allows a calculator. Choose one operation at a time and record your working. Trigonometry here always uses degrees (DEG), not radians. Inverse sine, cosine and tangent return an angle, not a reciprocal. Keep exact fractions and π in answers when requested.
Approximate numerical results use up to 12 significant digits. Inverse sine returns −90° to 90°, inverse cosine 0° to 180°, and inverse tangent −90° to 90°; these are principal values, not every possible solution of a trigonometric equation.
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