Why are green plant called autotrophs

Dear student 

Green plants are called autotrophs because they can prepare their own food (auto means self and troph means nutrition). This happens by the process of photosynthesis which takes place in the presence of sunlight.

The process by which plants make their own food using chlorophyll, carbon dioxide and water in the presence of sunlight is known as photosynthesis. Chlorophyll is a green pigment present in the leaves of plants. This pigment captures the sun’s energy, which is used to prepare food from carbon dioxide and water. The equation for photosynthesis is

  6CO₂ + 6H₂O → C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O<sub>2
Thus as green plants prepare their own food, they are alo called producers. They do not depend on other living organisms for this process pf food preparation. 

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