(The Best Years in Life) On the best summer day in Minnesota, the sun shines bright on the corn leaf, giving all the power the chlorophyll needs to take 6 carbon atoms, and 6 oxygen atoms (leaving 6 left over to form oxygen gas for us to breathe) and combine them with 12 hydrogens to make the sweet corn even sweeter. Glucose is born. These 12 hydrogen atoms bond to the carbon ring, storing energy in this sweet substance. Read More.