Chloroplast cutaway: structure in three dimensions
Explore a double envelope, stacked thylakoids and connecting lamellae in a schematic chloroplast. The open geometry makes selected relationships visible from several angles.
Inside the assembly
Two nested green shells expose four stacks of flattened discs. Thin connecting paths link these stacks at selected levels. A pale oval indicates a starch-granule concept, while a gold loop and small particles illustrate additional stromal contents. The stacks are separated spatially to make the distinction between thylakoid discs, grana and connecting lamellae visible from above and from the open side.
Scientific explanation
Photosynthesis occurs in chloroplasts of plants and algae. Light-dependent processes are associated with thylakoid membranes, while carbon fixation takes place in the surrounding stroma. A granum is a stack of thylakoids.
- Thylakoid
- Internal membrane compartment
- Granum
- Stack of thylakoids
- Stroma
- Fluid region surrounding the thylakoid system
Stack counts, membrane thickness and spatial proportions are schematic. No photosynthetic rate, molecular complex, pigment spectrum or light-transport simulation is represented. Colours and proportions are teaching conventions. This original schematic is not patient-derived or clinically validated, and is not a molecular simulation or a manufacturing specification.
Explore the model
- Count four teaching stacks and compare their discs.
- Trace a thin lamella between neighbouring stacks.
- Locate the pale starch symbol outside the stacked membranes.
From geometry to engineering
Rotate the model, compare its named structures with the references, then use the article to distinguish what is represented from what is simplified.