Where Do Trees Get Their Mass?

Complete unedited interviews: • Trees Raw Interviews
Trees can weigh hundreds or even thousands of tons, but where do they get this mass from? A few common answers are: the soil, water, and sunlight. But the truth is the vast majority of a dry tree's mass comes from the air - it originated as carbon dioxide

[@brentfisher902]

Dogs are made of water and dog food.

[@DrakeFellwing]

Brent Fisher Technically there is nothing wrong with this statement.

[@arshiazarrin]

Brent Fisher and oxygen

[@DrakeFellwing]

Technically no... oxygen is used to filter chemicals from us but doesn't actually get used to 'build' much of anything.

[@anticorncob6]

Drake Fellwing Does that include all air material that we breathe? So when vsauce said that cats are made of air, water, and cat food, he could have gotten rid of the air part?

[@DrakeFellwing]

you're made of air the same way you're made of any material that's crunch down to solids that however doesn't mean you're made of oxygen you do contain oxygen because your hemoglobin needs it but its only using it as a filter for other chemicals specifically to remove carbon from your cells as waste

[@kevinpronk123]

Nobody: KZbin: Do you wanna see Every 2012 video of Veritasium? Everyone: Yeah sure

[@Youtube-community-guideIines]

Fr tho 😂

[@p0llenp0ny]

I am here too. I am being led around by an algorithm.

[@WanderTheNomad]

KZbin: I swear, you've never watched these videos before.

[@ibelieveicansoar]

Nobody: Everybody: Please stop using the "Nobody:" method of KZbin commenting, because it has already, only a few months after its popularization, become extremely clichéd and predictable.

[@kevinpronk123]

Nobody: Ibelieveicansoar: Stop using the nobody meme

[@mrcalico7091]

That might explain why some people think that talking to plants helps them grow.

[@sunflower9481]

Nice observation

[@friendship779]

If they talk bs it helps plants grow even more.

[@KendrixTermina]

It's probably more than if you're attached to the plant you're more likely to think of watering/fertilizing & otherwise caring for it.

[@strangelyfamiliar1729]

Actually energy does flow between people and plants. Talking does play a role but not always a positive one.

[@juanitome1327]

No but it is actually scientifically proven that plants can sense outsider’s emotions and intentions and they react (chemically and internally, of course) to their exterior. Trees in the woods communicate between each other warning of threats or trading nutrients when they have more than they need. So yeah, communication happens between all living beings, and so it does too between species. Maybe we just have to learn their language.

[@iidkwhatnameuse]

3:00 Nobody: Derek Muller: *swims into the ocean* “How do you think trees get their mass?”

[@atharva2004]

Trees are made up of air. Lays: Finally, a worthy opponent..

[@DCcopter]

@@atharva2004 are battle will be legendary

[@ogenmatic]

Doesn't anybody know anything anymore?!? Trees are made of wood. Wood comes from Lowe's or Home Depot...

[@JohnQian1]

Made me laugh.

[@panda-bm4de]

ogenmatic wood comes in the morning and then it goes... so you are becoming a tree

[@TheStressIsReal]

@@panda-bm4de I'm 3 years late. Still funny

[@nate8334]

They use the carbon from co2 mixed with the hydrogen from h20 to make sugar(hydrocarbon) and that is used to build the mass of the tree with some minerals from the ground.

[@MahabubAlam-qz9do]

Trees gets ions from soil, air and water, ions like k+ Na+ NH4+ C H from Where it gets it's building blocks... And cements are like sunlight.... Soil works like a medium..

[@darkmater4tm]

We eat veggies to take back what the trees took from us.

[@matthewcheng5752]

This comment is so underrated

[@DrToonhattan]

+DarKMaTTeR "And so, Simba, we are all part of the great circle of life."

[@Nuriyasov]

+DarKMaTTeR we also eat the whole animals that eat the trees and leaves

[@Psychopatz]

+DarKMaTTeR Thats what u call The Circle of Life cuz our lives are in cycle

[@Cocads]

+DarKMaTTeR well, by eating veggie we are basically eating each other

[@chetanphoenix]

Veritasium : *slaps trunk of the tree* "This bad boy can fit a ton of carbon."

[@mralabbad7]

*G R A P H E N E T A N K*

[@communistpoultry]

🙃

[@aniruddhadas3606]

Veritasium: you are becoming a tree Me: *I AM GROOT*

[@atharva2004]

Lol

[@bigman9921]

Takes in CO2, emits 02, where does the C go? The tree itself is almost all C never really thought about it

[@firmabugiii]

It goes into the sugma

[@barfman7767]

When you use wood charcoal (not bbq briquettes), it is there. Wood has to go through a conversion process to be burned without oxygen present to become charcoal which is mostly pure carbon.

[@DANGJOS]

@BigMan99 The oxygen actually comes from the water. The entire CO2 molecule is used to make carbohydrates.

[@NerdOracle]

@@firmabugiii what on earth is sugma?

[@rougheel7392]

@@NerdOracle Sugma dick!

[@sohopedeco]

That tree where Derek was standing is terrifyingly massive.

[@the-mush]

Or Derek is shorter than we thought

[@wasabi42]

he’s actually only a meter tall irl

[@cuhurun]

Pedro... that tree is beautifully massive !

[@zorak964]

Sim, Pedro. Inclusive estou curioso para saber que espécie é aquela. As raízes me lembraram uma seringueira.

[@litpath3633]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/hJnPfJ14m8yXqNU these trees are much bigger

[@sergiograndio577]

Me: *at 12 am trying to get a good night sleep for school* KZbin: "where do trees get their mass?"

[@zalambdalestes7394]

At least you can now ask the same question to your biology teacher and see if he/she can explain it!

[@atharva2004]

Trees are made up of air. Lays: Finally, a worthy opponent..

[@andreasofficiall]

Just what happened to me today lol

[@seanagon182]

Very high level retrospective and incredibly interesting new way to look at trees that invoke a sense of gratefulness for a tree’s function to human existence. Love it

[@bert14u]

I must have yelled carbon about 100 times!

[@ongbonga9025]

My thought process... The soil. Wait, no, carbon dioxide. Spends next few minutes shouting carbon dioxide.

[@PCRage2000]

My thought process... Soil; oh wait experiment shows that's not so. What else... trees burn, why do they burn? oh carbon; where that come from? oh yeah the atmosphere.. mystery solved!

[@johncochran8497]

@@ongbonga9025 Yes, most of the mass is from carbon dioxide (both the carbon and the oxygen). But the tree also has hydrogen in it, which comes from water. The oxygen the tree releases to the atmosphere during photosynthesis is thrown away from the water it splits into hydrogen and oxygen.

[@mattismc]

Same, this was one of the more annoying videos if you already knew the answer

[@PaulThronson]

Anyone who has tried to lose weight might have figured out every exhale we pull off without shoving calories in, is a decent amount of heavy carbon leaving our bodies and figured the reverse is true. Structurally speaking, new animal cells require fat for walls and new plant cells require carbohydrates.

[@TheMinecraftia64]

Why are you asking Brits they haven't had trees since the industrial age

[@ryanpenrod1859]

well played

[@ToneyCrimson]

Lol..thats kinda sad...

[@RobinNewbrough]

They're Australians

[@ls200076]

@@RobinNewbrough eh, British prisoners

[@drainmudvayne27]

@@ls200076 typical dumbass yanky comment. no wonder you's know f all.

[@drperygin]

This is the first time I have watched this video. I am truly amazed that so many people in the world made it through 6th grade science class without knowing the answer to this question.

[@ddm.coment.o]

¡Gracias! You have inspired me to look at the world around me differently

[@thecommenter578]

Johann Baptista van Helmholt couldn't find the correct answer, but at least had a badass name

[@subscribefornoreason542]

But he eliminated the soil which many people think is what a tree is made up of.

[@wickbobby7294]

wooosh

[@kalilsuyan871]

Name u can get from the era of fantastic beasts

[@cristobalbalenciaga7295]

Wick Bobby whooosh

[@ishworshrestha3559]

Ddd

[@JoshuaBurton110213]

He made this 7 years ago and still getting paid from it.... Im in the wrong business.

[@TheRealKitWalker]

Haha yeah, me too!! 😆

[@warsameadam5572]

Start your own channel today

[@PumaM90]

What business are you in?

[@berni2905]

Are you on KZbin for the first time?

[@ishworshrestha3559]

Ddd

[@OctopusHook]

This was a question I had I'm my mind for a long time. Thank you for answering it! I now see plants, trees and the entire biosphere with a new understanding that has fundamentally changed me! No joke, thank you!

[@Horny_Fruit_Flies]

My first instinct was also to name the water and minerals in the soil, but if you think about it, Carbon is the building block of basically all organic chemistry, so yeah the plants get that C from CO2

[@MrWiesel79]

yep. they split the C out of CO2, split the H out of H2O and mix it together via photosynthesis to get C6_H12_O6, whjch is also known as sugar.

[@shandusa]

The tree is not made out of carbon dioxide, it takes in CO2, then it frees the Oxygen and it’s finally made most of Carbon.

[@philsburydoboy]

And even then, it's still more water than carbon

[@randomnumbers84269]

@@philsburydoboy Percentially speaking. Carbon gives the structure so you could say it's more important and only be a little bit wrong when saying it.

[@philsburydoboy]

@@randomnumbers84269 Would you say carbon is more important to humans than water? Just because something is structural doesn't make it more important.

[@randomnumbers84269]

@@philsburydoboy Like I said, you would be a bit wrong in stating that it's more important. But think about this; we recognize the carbon as wood in dried wood, yet the water that vaporized off we no longer consider wood.

[@miguelchacon2717]

The whole molecule is used, the oxygen comes from the water

[@FalconFastest123]

Tree recipe: 1 seed 3 cups air 1 cup water a pinch of dirt Mix well, let sit 5-10 years.

[@Boris99999]

You’re forgetting the main component - sun!

[@i0487]

@@Boris99999 you can use UV light . Like I use to grow weed .

[@vincejet]

You forgot something- the goodness from the soil!

[@pre-packaged_9692]

Awesome thanks. Anybody know where I can get a decent gas measuring cup??

[@warsameadam5572]

i 0 KZbin need to know your location

[@adil.14912]

That last line gave me Goosebumps

[@lachlannae]

Thank you!! Ive wondered about this for years! I have kept a "money plant" in a vase with water and it grows and grows. But Ive always been like, but from WHAT?? All you have is water and air. How can you make more of yourself! So glad to know finally!

[@lodoscan]

how did you lived all tat time with the doubt, i couldnt sleep with the doubt

[@sanjuansteve]

Nature's 3D printing where the CO2 in the air is the medium.

[@Davidn1]

6CO2 + 6H2O + energy -> C6H12O6 + 6O2. C6H12O6 is glucose, sugar.

[@seansmith8252]

Yes I know I learnt this in grade 11 biology...

[@Davidn1]

Sean Smith Obviously people forget.

[@HeBreaksLate]

David n Likewise hydrocarbon+oxygen->water+carbon dioxide+energy (aka cellular respiration).

[@MrPotatoPro]

+David n Now proceed with the conversions into sucrose and fructose.......

[@mnproductions5427]

Interesting, I learned it in 6th grade.

[@mauricioventanas]

Even though I’ve been planting trees for more than 20 years and I’m familiar with the idea of fixing tons of carbon, I was blown away a few years ago when I was told that trees are made mostly from air. No wonder it catches so many people by surprise. It’s very counterintuitive.

[@hectorcardenas2171]

Lovely and interesting reflection at the end: ..."and in a sense, you're becoming, ...THE TREE".

[@SoFancySoFetusy]

I guess i can finally say, I Am Groot.

[@juliannemeadows9472]

Groot, no! You can't do this! Don't sacrifice yourself.. :0

[@MerthanE]

+animu equals child pornography guardians of the galaxy

[@Joshua82PDX]

Cellulose is (C6 H10 O5). Glucose is (C6 H12 O6). Glucose is produced by photosynthesis and is used by plants to produce cellulose. Carbon, Hydrogen, and Oxygen are a plants best friend 😉

[@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork]

Someone who understands photosynthesis! Thank you!

[@gustavo_2298]

I thought the video would be from glucose forward. Cellulose is already one of the final building blocks of plants. Do you know if it is from glucose or cellulose that other plant's components can be made?

[@TheFarmacySeedsNetwork]

Plants that are high functioning nutritionally, and consequently photosynthetically can produce lipids, proteins, and other fatty acids as well as terpenes, flavanoids, and many other complex organic compounds. See AEA's "Plant Health Pyramid" video on youtube.

[@kirasun175]

Thank you because that we become the tree killed me what person gonna lose Mas from breathing.... Doesn't go like that....

[@douglasengle2704]

Oxygen is heavy and there is a lot more in there than I knew. Thanks

[@shubhamgarg09]

0:13 when you are half naked and want to enjoy and someone comes to you with a camera and asks you questions you don't know the answer of. Lol

[@trevorgwelch7412]

Trees need sunlight , water , oxygen , carbon dioxide , soil . Photosynthesis .

[@Saurabh_Tewari007]

Why don't someone ask these questions to me while I'm in a beach.

[@BasPronk]

They'll probably edit the correct answers out, until the end perhaps.

[@galwaystreetclub1811]

Yeah probably haha

[@thewormholetv7228]

Some, old men who wore pink underwear and black socks once did ask me.

[@vikrantsingh47]

His shoulder is invisible @ 3:59

[@aurelia8028]

vikrant singh no it's not it's because of his heads shadow blending in with the background

[@odotawaissaku3755]

Magnus Juul It's not the shadow blending in with the background. It's literally seethrough there. Look at his shirt. There's a spot where you can see the cloud behind him through his belly.

[@jaybitterman1683]

Марк Экэнсталэр its not sethrough, in the vid(when not paused ) you can clearly se the shadow of his head moving, and the color of his shirt returning.

[@adamtoakley]

Green screen effect?

[@FathinLuqmanTantowi]

Adam Oakley more like sky-bluish shirt effect XD

[@AustrianGD]

For those who dont understand. During photosynthesis trees takes carbon dioxide so CO2 --> C + O2 so O2 go to athmosphere and C go to tree's mass 😊

[@alejandrarodriguezsanchez6667]

i love these older videos. they have a funny take that the newer ones don't. please come back to these!!!

[@nosxing]

This video will be much better in today's version of Veritasium, deep into explanation. Thumbs up for a new version!

[@sahilsheikh5651]

yeah @Veritasium do it man.

[@PinkeySuavo]

yee i wanna update. Actual percentages, why it's hard (probably because of carbon?). But then isnt it built seperately from C and O2? If it was all CO2 molecules wouldnt it be a gas?

[@viewnoah]

0:15 Goodness out of the soil... man he is original

[@SirMrDany]

The fact grown people don't know is worrying...

[@xqt39a]

My sentiments also.. I went to public school and learned about photo synthesis, pretty cool.

[@user-fh6nu5jw3t]

00:13 it's the same man from the "Are you lightest in the morning video at 1 : 30 "

[@SharpestDager]

At the end, did anyone think to them selves " I am one with the tree"

[@Notmyname1593]

Daniel W the breathable oxigen comes from water and the hydrogen from water joins CO2 to form sugars

[@TheOtherNeutrino]

I am Groot.

[@Kira20021994]

we give to them carbon dioxide, they give to us oxigene, we are conected:) an entire body :)

[@MrTijdelijkenaam]

***** Groot is me

[@Satnavtomington]

Henkiepenkie We are groot

[@rahman1030]

After watching this video I have decided to identify as a tree.

[@esztiszep6334]

...and my pronouns are tre, treech and treeself

[@rozamunduszek4787]

Eszti Szép tre is insane! Look at treech, tre is embarrasing treeself. Tre is a fungus at most! [/just joking] 😉

[@CMDRunematti]

wait what...? i dont htink i can decode that sentence...

[@esztiszep6334]

Ujvári Mátyás vízmelegítő készulék tranzakció lebonyolítására vár

[@CMDRunematti]

Eszti Szép na ezzel csak zavarosabb lett...@_@

[@shimenone4150]

Wow, i realised this is an old video because it ended just as it started to get deeper. Congratulations on your development since now you go "all in" on subjects.

[@st0tes5020]

Loved the video! I wish you'd spent some time explaining how the CO2 constituent gets converted into the mass of the tree, but I recognize that may have been quite the potential rabbit hole. Thanks for all you do.

[@trying3841]

Yes! The carbon dioxide losing the oxide and keeping the carbon.

[@derickvernon6652]

IMO The biggest mistake in the video was him mentioning at the end that the Trees consume our CO2 and not adding in that the Trees produce a lot of the Oxygen that we need to survive. His lack of understanding of the symbiotic relationship between man and trees made the video a lot less impactful.

[@DANGJOS]

​@@trying3841 The entire CO2 molecule is used. It doesn't lose the oxide.

[@rizizum]

@@derickvernon6652 Algae make most of our oxygen though. Also everyone knows that trees make oxygen? There's no point saying that again

[@asterladybug]

Note, on 0:49 - It was Jan Baptist van Helmont, a Flemish scientist. Not Johann Baptista van Helmholt.

[@snakefang1863]

"And in a sense, you *become* the tree..." *Mine Explodes* *Body Decomposes Into Nutrients For Trees* *Mind Explodes... Again*

[@arjen6086]

do humans farm plants or do plants farm humans?!?!?

[@lolo_o4309]

Or does the tree become you?

[@ddm6779]

*mind

[@KougaJ7]

One day we'll all be together in that forest, collectively recounting the days where Veritasium predicted our fate on KZbin.

[@randomnumbers84269]

All is one, in a sense.

[@fernandozenomiranda9470]

Amazing words at the end of the video: "In a sense, you are becoming the tree."

[@carinasanper]

Yes, 🌲🌳 but sadly nowadays there's a lot of people being born, and every day are less trees, so not everybody can become a tree.

[@ktushy4727]

Fun fact: you need 20 trees to sustain enough o2 for 1 human being

[@iLuvHinata360]

"Co2 is how we lose mass" *breathes out perfusely*

[@Stennwellara1]

Derek: The suns energy is not mass! Einstein: Am I a joke to you?

[@shawnclark732]

Stennwellara1 seriously. I cringed when he said that. The sun actually loses mass constantly. Light carries mass away from the sun as does the solar wind.

[@MohaMMaDiN55]

At the end, those are all theories that scientists discovered, noticed and proved. This could be all just a joke. imagine all the theories that we rely on are wrong, and it’s just that the right ones luckily fit with the wrong ones that we created. Who knows, I mean who the hell knows!

[@brandon4391]

Mohammed Al-Saffar take religion and destroy it and it won’t come back the same ever, now take all the science books and in time they will all come back the same

[@MohaMMaDiN55]

Brandon Hahaha. You completely said the right opposite. Destroy religion and it will come back the same as it was. burn all the science books and there might exist other new theories that just fit luckily with the old ones. For example, the theory of atom and quantum numbers could turn into something different.

[@MohaMMaDiN55]

Clorox Bleach Yes

[@incongra]

Love how banjo music is being used to exemplify "ignorance" in the respondents. #Banjophobia

[@MJ-nl8yl]

and laughing with the respondents after their statements with his "this dumbfuck"-laugh hahaha

[@dariusdareme]

banjo music is very commonly used in the movie industry to portrait silly, stupid, funny things.

[@JeremySchoeder]

@@dariusdareme And hillbillies. AKA Trump's base.

[@arnolddsouza7846]

AOC would say it's racist

[@Namoari941]

Trees and all other plants are also get nitrogen from the air and little minerals from water too

[@axelagarwal5466]

The old man who answered goodness ❤️❤️

[@chrisengland5523]

I'm amazed that nobody mentioned carbon dioxide until practically the end of the video. I thought that EVERYBODY knows that plants absorb C02 and give off oxygen, which is why they're so important for counteracting the effect of us burning fossil fuels.

[@jshanker2005]

*My mom always taunted me "Don't sit there like a tree. DO SOMETHING !!"* I guess I was always a tree.

[@kistuszek]

It would be an interesting stat to know, how many ppl got this right.

[@gorisenke]

I'm on the didn't get it right side. (Thought water)

[@ellmatic]

+kistuszek Why the comma?

[@kistuszek]

+Zhōu yǔ Qiáo Haha, its a subconscious thing, my native language would use a connecting word that calls for it. ;)

[@ellmatic]

What is your native language? I'm interested in languages, so that's why I asked in the first place.

[@kistuszek]

Zhōu yǔ Qiáo Hungarian.

[@sadabetas]

I watched this video in high school when it first went viral. Now, 7 years later I periodically keep coming back to it to repeatedly blow my maturing mind with the same information that only seems to redefine how I see the world with a half life of a few years.

[@hesterclapp9717]

3:53 But then you breathe in the oxygen and consume the glucose that the tree excretes, so you become bigger and the tree becomes smaller

[@MoisesPadilla]

I already know the answer from school (I think is learned in 3rd or 4th grade) but I love the fact that you guide these people from making them question what they know and letting them to search alternative explanations. [SFMBE]

[@z4xx0r]

Amazing video guys! The filmography, the science, the audio (often the underappreciated aspect of a great video), concise, sufficient to satisfy curiosity yet incite further research... plants are awesome! Thank you!!!

[@estebanguerrero682]

Why not revamp this old videos and maybe compile the ones that have topics closely related to eachother for a long format of videos explaining in details all this phenomena? Would be awesome to see a revisit and further deep diving

[@artfx9]

A lot of people are made of burgers and soda. Explains a lot.

[@Ocklepod]

It hurts to see so many people who don't know anything about stuff anyone learns in school nowadays

[@amiratlanta]

I was blown away by this. CO2? That makes the issue of deforestation so much more urgent and helps explain the astonishing increase in global CO2 levels. Thanks for doing this, Derek.

[@swedesspeedshop2518]

Just a suggestion go up in a small plane and have a look around we actually have plenty of trees you would be amazed at how little is actually cleared for human use

[@turolretar]

@@swedesspeedshop2518depends on where you look

[@cptnoremac]

@@turolretar People talk like all humans do is cut down trees, but we also plant a lot of trees. It's not like loggers actually want there to be no trees left; that would put them out of work.

[@sochyvonnnora6035]

1:41 the old Petter Griffin trick...talk to someone long enough until they self-conscious about their boobs

[@TylerDixonYMM]

Mind blown by the density of the interviewees.

[@Salaminizer1974]

I can't believe people didn't realize a tree is mostly made of carbon. I guess I should.

[@snakefang1863]

saurav budathoki thats like saying is the formation of galaxies inevitable... it just happens by chance that it can

[@Salaminizer1974]

saurav budathoki Gee, I don't know..maybe because life on Earth is based on carbon? When you burn wood, carbon is what's left behind? Other clues..

[@JimFortune]

tadpole444 Minerals are left behind. Carbon unites with oxygen and becomes CO2 which wafts away.

[@Salaminizer1974]

Tell that to the ashes in my fire-pit.

[@orangegold1]

My first thought was "A tree is carbon"... Trees take in CO2 and release O2... Carbon is left... They get it from the air. Haha!

[@MrPlito95]

Alternative title: "How them trees get so T H I C C?"

[@RoselineJerryA]

thicc tree hours

[@letusshine7823]

even i never thought of it, this was very interesting and the way you gave the exposure was so good keep it up brother

[@smurface549]

The answers he received from the interviewed show very well why protecting the rain forest and fighting climate change is so damn hard...

[@a_aron30490]

I literally had this question the other day and now it's in my recommended.

[@BlackSabbath1989]

Snowden

[@harmhoeks5996]

You CONFIRMED Harm's theory: People are idiots with moments of genius

[@flyfin108]

nope, just idiots

[@batfink274]

About one in a million is smart enough to support the other 999,999.

[@flyfin108]

@@batfink274 1 in a million dosnt help when theres a snake box to open

[@angellaboy8336]

@@flyfin108 *Harsh threat detected *-CIA

[@flyfin108]

@@angellaboy8336 o m g thank you, exactly the Word i was looking for

[@fandibataineh4586]

correction: we don't lose weight by breathing out (exhaling) water and carbon dioxide, we lose weight by sweating

[@quinosonic82]

Always wondered how plants progress in constrained pots... and though one uses branches and leaves to replenish carbon in soils, it was pretty obvious yet never evident to me this simple relationship. Thanks.

[@androkguz]

Before the video, I though it was from the soil. After you said "but why is there not a hole in the ground around the tree" I decided "wow, you are right, it must be from nutrients brought there through the water" I was not ready to learn that trees are made of mostly consuming air. Sir, after 5 years of graduating as a Physicist, you still teach me the most incredible and basic facts of life

[@TCBumby]

Wow! mind blown.... The fact that I’m only seeing this video now.

[@Greenhempdevil]

Haha ha

[@c.aldersop]

"and in a sense, you're becoming a tree" and I felt that on a personal level.

[@user-di8gh5fw6d]

Heard of the big bang. Inside the seed is a carefully folded tree. Over time it is pumped up with air etc.

[@JamesKing2understandinglife]

The fact that I enjoy about all plants that is generally not known is that when they are not doing photosynthesis with sun, water and carbon dioxide... they use oxygen at night for their respiration, in much the same way as other life forms do all the time.

[@eagle3676]

they actually respire all the time. Its just that the oxygen they produce far outweighs the oxygen they take in

[@JamesKing2understandinglife]

They are amazing how they do what they do to exist and go thru their life cycle.

[@eagle3676]

James King complex processes that I studied in A level and O level. hard to explain in a comments section

[@suncrafterspielt9479]

2:49 Einstein: Am I a joke to you?

[@chrisarcher1146]

Little John: “… wot?” Robin Hood: “AIR!!!”

[@ilikelampshades6]

Photosynthesis equation. 6CO2+ 6H2O= C6H1206 (glucose/sugar) + O2

[@DistractedDaisy]

I look around and fore all I see, there is nothing I would rather be than a Tree.

[@Goabnb94]

And then the tree produces fruit. The tree loses mass from the fruit, you gain mass from eating the fruit.

[@robert3859]

+Swish Mule I laughed at first, but sadly you're right, we breathe money, and when the climate changes and we cut enough trees, we wonder why we are suffocating from lack of fresh air, but have all this money to breathe... I'm going to plant a tree in my backyard right now.

[@larsruberti]

+Swish Mule spot on!

[@HakingMC]

+Goabnb94 IT'S THE CIRCLE OF LIFE!

[@myotheraccountisclean9458]

you made my day, this makes me love them more.

[@khankbar]

I wish Derek went back to this format. He's so charismatic.

[@tcironbear21]

I am not going to call these people stupid since I did not figure it out until probably junior high and no one explicitly told me. But I made there realization when people taught me that photosynsesis creates sugars and that cellulose which makes up plant walls was a type of sugar. I added them up in my head and made the realization a long time ago.

[@thetimelords911]

The amount of people who didnt understand photosynthesis made me upset.

[@ardikaputu]

I agree with you. Yet we learned about photosynthesis in bloody elementary school.

[@mikeries8549]

@@ardikaputu they eliminated that class and replaced it with holocaust studies.

[@marcossouzadias8824]

The Timelords photosynthesis is how the plant gets the energy from the sun, it doesn’t explain the tree mass either. 6CO2 + 6H2O -> C6H12O6 + 6O2 (glucose and oxygen)

[@adamlea6339]

I suspect he only included those who didn't say carbon dioxide. Given the number of decades of climate change awareness and why deforesting the Amazon is a bad idea, most people should know that trees absorb carbon dioxide, even if they have forgotten what they learnt at school.

[@thesunflowchannel1995]

I had always just assumed it was the dirt. It's so obvious now thank you for le knowledge

[@azaria_phd]

This is a feel smart moment for me. I'm growing catnip for my cats, which goes in a pot with no soil, and for whatever reason the other day I came to the realization that the material making up the catnip had to come from somewhere. It was evident that part of it was water because, I mean, that famous line that "humans are 70% water", but was it also turning energy from the sun into mass? Then it set in: plants absorb CO2 for photosynthesis, and life is made of carbon, so suddenly it was obvious it was turning the CO2 in the air into its body.

[@RichterBelmont2235]

Never thought of this up until now. KZbin pique my curiousity right for once.

[@balthazar7490]

-Respiration (humans AND plants !) : C6H12O6 (glucose) + 6O2 (oxygen) -> 6CO2 (carbon dioxide) + 6H2O (water) + ATP (energy) -Photosynthesis (plants only) : 6CO2 + 6H2O + Sunlight (energy) -> 6O2 + C6H12O6

[@anandsuralkar2947]

What about methyl propane people leave out of their butts

[@ishaangunjan25yearsago42]

@@anandsuralkar2947 it makes the planet UrAnUs

[@system2thinker659]

Damn, that was painful having so many people have no clue what we learned in 1st grade, however for emotional appeal and suspense I'm sure many people knew the answer but were left out for hype.

[@rayrowley4013]

One of the NGSS standards for science is that students understand that the mass of a plant comes from air rather than from soil or water. While it is easy enough to prove that it does not come from soil (plenty of plant starts can be grown without soil), it is much harder to account for water. Any suggestions?

[@lyrimetacurl0]

TBF, water is just as responsible as CO2, depending which molecule's oxygen atoms end up in the photosynthesis products. Meaning if the O2 is entirely from the CO2 then 9/15 of the tree's biomass is from the water, but if the O2 comes entirely from the water then 1/15 is. So it may be somewhere in between, depending how the reaction really works.

[@deluxeassortment]

All of the oxygen released is from the water, but not all of the water is used in photosynthesis. Cells contain water as a fluid medium and in storage in vacuoles, but the tree must also transport the water from the ground to all the cells, so there is an enormous amount of water in the tree. It is something like 50% water.

[@NeverSuspects]

@@deluxeassortment Also with more available CO2 the pores that take in CO2 on the leaves do not have to be open in such numbers and this results in a significant amount of water not being lost through them for the plant to get the necessary CO2.This means that with more CO2 the plant actually needs less water from the environment.

[@aleksinuutila2315]

@@deluxeassortment Dont forget that the H in hydrocarbons comes from water. Its a small fraction of the mass, but a majority of the atoms.

[@deluxeassortment]

@@aleksinuutila2315 Yes, the basic carbohydrate is C6H12O6, I believe. That hydrogen being ripped from water molecules is the entire reason for they existence of chlorophyll

[@nenhard]

Nitrogen is also needed.

[@unitelanka]

For fucks sake people, Oxygen? I can't believe they guessed oxygen.

[@timhyatt9185]

scientific illiteracy is at higher than it has ever been in the modern era....the last time there were this many people rejecting even basic concepts of science, was before public education became commonplace.....

[@unitelanka]

it's worse. considering that the world population has skyrocketed, there's never been so many idiots on the planet at any one time.

[@Youtuber-ly6tx]

I'm blown away by how so many people didn't learn that carbon dioxide is used by plants. I learned that in 4th grade. Every kid wanted to say the word photosynthesis to seem smart.

[@alanmctavish3628]

Thanks for your work. How interesting!

[@christianvalin1883]

Wait: Electrons have Mass and I didn’t even know they are Catholic!

[@edgardocerda4045]

that's more of a comment really

[@quietcorner293]

Reminds me of a story. A guy told a girl he has MS. She said, she has a Mac.

[@SMac-bq8sk]

Ha! Good one! But, I understand quarks only have low Mass.

[@gramursowanfaborden5820]

one atom says to another "oh gosh, i seem to have lost an electron!" the other retorts in a sceptical manner "oh is that right?" to which the first replies "i'm positive!"

[@PaulHsExperiments]

I think it's important to recognize at some point energy must become matter. There may not be evidence that life readily does it, but the existence of matter alone shows that at some point what we perceive as pure energy must be combined to form matter. Where else would the hydrogen that fills stars come from? This is hard to comprehend from visualizing particle mechanics, but the double-slit experiment proved that photons show wave mechanics, and as far as I know, no experiment has shown that photons require particle behavior. When you consider "photons" as waves of differing size and amplitude it makes sense that they could combine to form standing waves and vortexes of differing spins and momentum.

[@branhan215124]

Halaster Black It's not actually important in this context at all, yes energy was converted into mass and then atoms and then all the elements but that all happened billions of years before the Earth was ever even a "thing". And you better believe there is no evidence that Life converts Energy into Mass because if you'll check that equation (E=MC2) you'll kind notice that light speed squared is a huge number. Like yeah, I get it, your very basic point is valid but why is it HERE? What does that have to do with this video?

[@user-im1mg8xe8t]

The mass of a tree primarily comes from carbon dioxide in the air. Through the process of photosynthesis, trees convert carbon dioxide (CO₂) and water (H₂O) into glucose (C₆H₁₂O₆) and oxygen (O₂). The glucose is used to build various structures within the tree, such as cellulose and lignin, which are the main components of wood. While water and nutrients from the soil are essential for growth and metabolic processes, the bulk of a tree's mass is derived from the carbon atoms in carbon dioxide absorbed from the atmosphere.

[@MeadowFarmer]

When wood burns there is only a little ash left, which is the minerals that it has taken from the soil. The rest of the mass of the tree is carbon which goes in the air as C02.