What is Plant: Definition and 282 Discussions

Plants are mainly multicellular organisms, predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, plants were treated as one of two kingdoms including all living things that were not animals, and all algae and fungi were treated as plants. However, all current definitions of Plantae exclude the fungi and some algae, as well as the prokaryotes (the archaea and bacteria). By one definition, plants form the clade Viridiplantae (Latin name for "green plants"), a group that includes the flowering plants, conifers and other gymnosperms, ferns and their allies, hornworts, liverworts, mosses, and the green algae, but excludes the red and brown algae.
Green plants obtain most of their energy from sunlight via photosynthesis by primary chloroplasts that are derived from endosymbiosis with cyanobacteria. Their chloroplasts contain chlorophylls a and b, which gives them their green color. Some plants are parasitic or mycotrophic and have lost the ability to produce normal amounts of chlorophyll or to photosynthesize, but still have flowers, fruits, and seeds. Plants are characterized by sexual reproduction and alternation of generations, although asexual reproduction is also common.
There are about 320,000 species of plants, of which the great majority, some 260–290 thousand, produce seeds. Green plants provide a substantial proportion of the world's molecular oxygen, and are the basis of most of Earth's ecosystems. Plants that produce grain, fruit, and vegetables also form basic human foods and have been domesticated for millennia. Plants have many cultural and other uses, as ornaments, building materials, writing material and, in great variety, they have been the source of medicines and psychoactive drugs. The scientific study of plants is known as botany, a branch of biology.

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  1. S

    Systematic review of plant sex terms?

    Where could you find a systematic review of terms specifying the possible sex structures of plant populations? This https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_reproductive_morphology has a list of 30 terms, arranged by alphabet not meaning, containing many synonyms... It seems to me that a plant...
  2. C

    How might plant life look different on other theoretical planets?

    Got interested on how plants (and other things such as fungi) could evolve on other planets along with how plant life may flourish depending on the position of the planet to the sun, moon etc. I'm looking for any article talking about this or something similar.
  3. dlgoff

    New Car Battery Plant Construction in the Midwest

    Panasonic is going to build an electric car battery factory plant in DeSoto, KS. Will hire 4000 jobs at the plant and another 4000 jobs throughout the state. IIRC, the factory will cost 4 billion dollars to build. edit: corrected spelling of DeSoto
  4. Astronuc

    Giant Hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum) - dangerous plant

    Public Safety Announcement. Earlier today, I read two articles on giant hogweed. In one case, a dog ran into some brush along a trail and apparently came in contact with the plant. His injury was so severe that he was euthanized. In another case, a child came in contact with the plant and...
  5. S

    Self-watering plant pots vs pots that drain

    Common directions for putting plants into pots says the pots must have drain holes so that the roots of the plants don't "drown". How is this problem avoided in the "self watering" type of pot where there is a reservoir of water at the bottom of the pot and and a cylinder filled with soil that...
  6. Kamuna

    Engineering Rankine cycle power plant

    Is this the right path in solving this problem? Am i finding the correct enthalpies? I am also having difficulty understanding so what I've understood is that in a rankine cycle P2=P3 but here P2 is given and P3 has a given variable which is T=25 C too so should I neglect P2=P3? Heres my...
  7. A

    Chemical plant design and construction

    Got some good resources on Chemical plant design and construction. A Chemical plant design and construction. B Chemical plant design and construction.
  8. Greg Bernhardt

    Ukraine nuclear power plant Zaporizhzhia on fire

    Let's keep this non-political, similar to the Fukushima thread. Thanks! https://finance.yahoo.com/news/1-ukraine-nuclear-power-plant-001225198.html
  9. BillTre

    Western False Asphodel: Carnivorous Flower Stem for Nitrogen

    The western false asphodel (Triantha occidentalis) has been shown to be carnivorous, but only on the stem of it's flower (so only in flowering season). Insects get stuck on sticky little threads on the flower stem and then get digested there (kind of like a sundew plants does). News article...
  10. O

    Any good ideas for a plant for my yard?

    I have a small yard (25 feet wide) and the southernmost part of it is almost always shaded by a school that is adjacent. The previous owners had 5 paper birch trees plants in the shaded portion, three across the back edge then two planted about 10 feet closer to my house on the left and right...
  11. K

    Questions on operating a nuclear power plant on the Moon or Mars

    Heat cannot be removed by liquid-to-gas heat exchangers since there is no substantial atmospheres on the Moon or on Mars. It cannot be dissipated by venting steam since there is a critical water shortage. It cannot be dissipated by rocks or soil since both are essentially thermal insulators. It...
  12. Ameen1985

    Design a compressed air energy storage for a PV plant

    Summary:: Design compressed air energy storage for PV plant [Mentor Note -- Thread moved from a technical forum, so no Homework Template is shown] Hi All For a PV project of 5 kW, we will use a CAES. The preliminary design will consist of a compressor - 2 heat exchanger - Air receiver - air...
  13. V

    Can one shoot tip (in a plant) have more than one apical meristem?

    Do plants always have just one apical meristem at any given time? If I see multiple buds at a single shoot tip (multiple "apical buds"?), what am I looking at? Is it: multiple ("codominant") apical meristems, or the buds compete for dominance until one of them ends up being the apical meristem...
  14. V

    Do leaves really always have an axillary bud at the base?

    Would love some insight: We're always taught that you can tell a leaf by the axillary bud where the petiole connects to the stem. But what if the axillary bud has developed into a stem/branch? Would it be correct to say that leaves often lack axillary buds at their junction with the stem (maybe...
  15. BenKlesc

    How to become a commercial nuclear plant operator?

    I have a question for anyone on here that has pursued the nuclear energy field. I'm interested in becoming an equipment technician or operator at a nuclear power plant, but I am already 26 years old. I understand that many of the operators and technicians were former Navy nukes. I looked into...
  16. stipan_relix

    Engineering Voltages, currents and power between a power plant and a transformer

    This is the first part of the problem, which I solved. Now to the second part which I can't manage to find the equations I need to use. Problem: This plant is connected to a 20/0.4 kV transformer of 250 kVA power, through an XP00-A cable (4x150 mm2, IN=300 A, Z1=0.26 Ω/km). a) Calculate...
  17. S

    MHB Fraction word problem: how many rows are devoted to each plant

    2. Betty would like your help planning her garden whose rows are all of equal length. She would like to grow carrots, beans, sunflowers, tomatoes and peppers. She tells you she would like to devote twice as many rows to growing peppers as she does to beans. She only has enough tomato plants to...
  18. chemisthypnos

    Trying to build a miniature binary geothermal plant for education

    I am trying to build a miniature (it should fit on a desk) binary geothermal power plant for educational purposes. I obviously do not expect to drill into the ground with this power plant, but I hope to be able to demonstrate new design principles with it. I have many questions as to how to do...
  19. gleem

    Three mile Island Power Plant to be Shut Down

    Exelon the current owner of Three Mile Island Power Plant will shut it down in about two weeks. This is 15 year short of its current license expiration date. The reason supposedly is the cost of operation since methane is currently so cheap. Exelon tried to persuade the Pennsylvania...
  20. A

    Andrew's Senior Project: Copper Sulfate & Plant Development

    Hello, I'm Andrew and I'm in 12th grade. If you are interested, I would like to share a presentation showing the process, observations, results of an experiment showing the physical effects copper sulfate can have on early plant development. I, with much help from some intelligent members of...
  21. A

    Help with an Experiment Concerning a Copper Sulfate

    Hi, I'm in 12th grade and for my senior project I am doing an observation on the effects copper would have on plant growth. I have used copper sulfate to create increasing concentrations of copper in which I used to water my test plants. After further research of lately, I found that copper...
  22. TheBigDig

    Efficiency of a steam power plant

    My inital assumption was to just take T1 = 5600 and T2= 300K, find the maximum efficiency and then divide it by two and three but I don't believe this question to be that simple. I'm confused as to where the 750K fits in as I thought no matter what occurred in between the heat reservoir and heat...
  23. Crafticharli

    How can I dissolve plant material without changing-

    I have a question which is ungoogleable. Question: What is the most efficient way to fully dissolve plant matter without destroying its chemical make up, for distillation purposes? Background Information: I started down this rabbit hole while researching the viability of a artisanal soap...
  24. A

    Help with Copper and Zinc's Effects on a Plant Experiment

    Hi, I'm in 12th grade and for my senior project I wanted to do an experiment on the effects that copper and zinc have on mung beans. I have copper sulfate pentahyde and zinc sulfate monohydrate, which I had purchased because I have seen information on other similar experiments where these were...
  25. V

    Electrical Designing an off grid power plant

    Hello! I have some plans that i want to share and get some feedback on before i start construction and buying parts. I have some land next to a lake that i can build a dam with head of 30m around 10000m2 and almost 50000m3. I am thinking of solar panels and wind turbine to generate electricity...
  26. bgm

    Granular load factor statistics for the Palo Verde plant

    Hello all, first post. I'm interested in granular load factor statistics for the Palo Verde plant, and LF reporting practices in general. Reviewing the LF stats for PV in the PRIS DB, I'm a bit confused. The annual LF in 2002 was 102. PRIS indicates that 102 is a percentage. What I would...
  27. T

    What are benefits of Electricity of nuclear power plant

    Hello What are benefits of nuclear power plant electricity than hydro power generated electricity Does it cost less per unit any or the waveform is pure sine wave how engineer build it .
  28. TytoAlba95

    Biology Genetics Problem -- six independently assorting genes in a plant

    Homework Statement A researcher studied six independently assorting genes in a plant. Each gene has a dominant and a recessive allele: R black stem, r red stem; D tall plant, d dwarf plant; C full pods, c constricted pods; O round fruit, o oval fruit; H hairless leaves, h hairy leaves; W purple...
  29. G

    Power plant generator improvement

    I have looked over the types of generators used in most power plants (Hydro, Nuclear, coal etc) and with different sized and rotor rpm's they all basically share the same principle of operation if I'm not mistaken, which is that the rotor gets supplied via brushes and slip rings with a DC...
  30. BillTre

    5.5 Earthquake Associated with S. Korean Geothermal Plant

    Science magazine news article here.
  31. E

    Chinese fuel reprocessing plant, store Kr-85

    Hello everybody! Areva is supposed to build a plant in China to reprocess spent nuclear fuel (agreement hoped in Spring 2018). I should like to remind that the radioactive 85Kr fission product, which stays in the fuel rods until they're opened, can be stored easily until it has decayed, as I...
  32. Fabio Pastorino

    What is the size of the nuclear reactor part of a nuclear power plant

    Good morning at all, I have to do one research of the transport of large nuclear reactors, and I need to have an idea of which is the DIAMETER, HEIGHT and WEIGHT of the reactor I think that there are a lot of different dimension, but i want to know only approximately, because i don't have...
  33. Delta Force

    Question about Midland Cogenerating Nuclear Power Plant

    Midland Nuclear Power Plant was going to have two nuclear reactors from Babcock & Wilcox. Unit 1 was to have a capacity of 460 MWe, while Unit 2 was to have a capacity of 808 MWe. Were the reactors twins that simply had different steam machinery due to the cogeneration requirements or were they...
  34. Spinnor

    Squash-like plant, vines form secondary root systems?

    We have some type of squash plant growing in a small garden. It remarkable how much it has spread. I would think it advantageous for such a plant to form additional root systems, try as I might I do not see them on this plant. Is that typical of squash and pumpkin type plants, no additional root...
  35. P

    Answer for the Given on Steam Power Plant

    Steam Power Plant Questions
  36. K

    Measuring the dynamic electrical resistance response of plant leaves

    My hope is to explore [the existence of] dynamic correlation of plant tissue (leaves to start with) electrical resistance to stimuli. I've heretofore conducted experimentation reasonably sure enough of the techniques and materials I'll need that I've never posted for such advice in a public...
  37. Delta Force

    Nuclear Plant Batteries: Technology, Lifespan, and Impact on Battery Advancement

    It seems that the batteries installed at nuclear power plants would have been one of the largest scale applications of battery technology prior to the development of battery storage stations for utilities. I'm wondering what kind of technology they use(d) and what kind of lifespan, capacity, and...
  38. T

    Understanding Nuclear Fission in Power Plants

    So I need some help verifying this information.(I had to dumb it down, for the younger ones) - The Nuclear Fission process is started when the Nuclear fuels rods are submerged in coolant water to moderate the Nuclear fission process. When the Fuel rods are put close together this sets of a...
  39. A

    I Simulating Plant Evolution: Branch Bending Physics

    I'm trying to simulate plant evolution to see if there's a genetic reason why fronds are so common in nature, and one problem I've come across is branch physics. Whenever a segment of a leaf or branch bends, not only does it affect the angle of all child segments (and thus how they'll bend), it...
  40. EnumaElish

    What is the fixed cost vs. variable cost breakdown for a nuclear power plant?

    I am trying to understand the fixed cost of a nuclear power plant relative to variable cost. By fixed cost I mean "cost that does not vary with the amount of the power outputted over a given time period." By variable cost I mean "cost items that vary with the amount of the power outputted...
  41. S

    Steam Power Plant Reheat Efficiency Calculation

    Homework Statement Homework Equations Heat added, Qa (This I'm not sure how since the steam passed through a reheater before it enters the HPT. That is what I understand based on the problem above) Work Net, Wnet Efficiency, Wnet/Qa Heat Rate, WP/EP (Not sure if that is the correct formula)...
  42. G

    Does current flow back to the power plant through the ground?

    Hi. I fear I might not have understood some fundamental concepts about electric power transmission. So we have "neutral" which is brought to Earth potential. Does this mean the electrical circuit from the power plant over highly conductive aluminium cables to my home closes back to the power...
  43. Delta Force

    Historical Power Plant Costs and Efficiencies?

    I'm wondering if anyone knows where I could find information on historical costs and efficiencies of various sources of energy (hydroelectricity, coal, petroleum, natural gas, etc.) and plant types (steam, diesel, and gas turbine), especially at facilities of various sizes. That information...
  44. HethensEnd25

    Pressure change at the inlet of a steam turbine in a small electric power plant

    Homework Statement A steam turbine in a small electric power plant is designed to accept 4500 kg of steam at 60 bar and 500oC and exhaust the stem at 10 bar. Part C. In off-peak hours, the power output of the turbine in part a) (100% efficient) is decreased by adjusting a throttling valve...
  45. Hilmy atha

    Why plant distributes sugar in the form of sucrose?

    Few months back, in the final rounds of biology olympiad for Highschool students, i was asked, "Plants distributes sugar in the phloem as sucrose molecules, why did plant do this, and is there any advantages? Why not other form of sugar like glucose?"Can anyone help me? :3 Also i was wondering...
  46. agargento

    Electrical Energy: 30-Day Output from Coal Plant

    Homework Statement A power plant burns coal and generates an average of 700.0 Megawatts (MW) of electrical power while discharging 1162.00 MW as waste heat. Find the total electrical energy generated by the plant in a 30-day period. Homework Equations W = J/sec The Attempt at a Solution...
  47. Delta Force

    Temperature and Power Plant Output?

    This is probably a very basic engineering question, but I'm from an energy policy background and the resources I've found (such as this) are quite detailed. Internal combustion engines such as automobile engines and aircraft (jet and piston powered) produce more power in colder environments and...
  48. C

    Do you think this waste-to-energy plant will work?

    Some people say it's ambitious, some people say it's crazy and some people say it just won't work. What do you think?
  49. Clara Chung

    Mutiple choice about hydroelectric power plant

    Homework Statement A hydroelectric power plant is built next to a reservoir with a water turbine beneath a dam. In normal operation, which of the following conditions will increase the flow rate of water, in kg s^-1 ,through the turbine. (1) There are too much water in the reservoir. (2) After...
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