When a plant is exposed to light, photons of appropriate wavelength will strike and be absorbed by the pigment-protein complexes arrayed on the thylakoid membranes. When this happens, the energy of the photon is transferred to the pigment molecule, thus causing the pigment to go into an electronically excited state.
How do plants absorb photons of light energy quizlet?
– when pigments in chloroplasts absorb photons, about 2 percent of the excited electrons produce fluorescence. when pigments in the antenna complex absorb protons, the energy – but not the electron itself – is passed to a nearby chlorophyll molecule where another electron is excited in response.
How does light energy get absorbed into the plant?
Plants, on the other hand, are experts at capturing light energy and using it to make sugars through a process called photosynthesis. This process begins with the absorption of light by specialized organic molecules, called pigments, that are found in the chloroplasts of plant cells.
How does a photon go through photosynthesis?
A photon of light energy travels until it reaches a molecule of chlorophyll. The photon causes an electron in the chlorophyll to become “excited.” The energy given to the electron allows it to break free from an atom of the chlorophyll molecule. Chlorophyll is therefore said to “donate” an electron (Figure 5.12).
What of the following absorbs the photons of light during photosynthesis quizlet?
Chlorophyll absorbs photons in only some wavelengths of the visible spectrum– at the lower end and the upper end but not in the middle. Plants possess other pigments that absorb photons in different wavelengths.
Which molecule in plants are responsible for absorbing photons of light?
Green plants have the ability to make their own food. They do this through a process called photosynthesis, which uses a green pigment called chlorophyll. A pigment is a molecule that has a particular color and can absorb light at different wavelengths, depending on the color.
How does chlorophyll absorb photons?
In photosynthesis, electrons are transferred from water to carbon dioxide in a reduction process. Chlorophyll assists in this process by trapping solar energy. When chlorophyll absorbs energy from sunlight, an electron in the chlorophyll molecule is excited from a lower to a higher energy state.
What happens when a photon is absorbed by chlorophyll?
A photon of light hits chlorophyll, causing an electron to be energized. The free electron travels through the electron transport chain, and the energy of the electron is used to pump hydrogen ions into the thylakoid space, transferring the energy into the electrochemical gradient.
Which part of chlorophyll absorbs light?
Chlorophylls absorb light most strongly in the blue portion of the electromagnetic spectrum as well as the red portion.
What determines photon absorption?
Absorption is shown by the energy levels increasing as the photon gains energy. The wavelengths shown relate to the amount of energy in the photon. Notice how the emitted light wavelengths are shorter than the absorbed light wavelengths.
Where does most of the light energy captured in photosynthesis end up?
Sunlight is converted to chemical energy in the form of ATP (adenosine triphosphate), which is the main energy-storing molecule in living organisms. ATP is then transported throughout the chloroplast and used to provide the chemical energy necessary to power other metabolic reactions.
Can you have light without photons?
The short answer is “no”, but it is a qualified “no” because there are odd ways of interpreting the question which could justify the answer “yes”. Light is composed of photons, so we could ask if the photon has mass.
What process is most directly driven by light energy?
Photosynthesis: Photosynthesis is the process by which the chlorophyll molecules convert the light energy into chemical energy where there is the fixation of inorganic carbon into organic carbon with the help of light and provides food for the ecosystem.
Which molecule absorbs the energy of a photon in photosynthesis quizlet?
A photon of light hits chlorophyll, causing an electron to be energized. The free electron travels through the electron transport chain, and the energy of the electron is used to pump hydrogen ions into the thylakoid space, transferring the energy into the electrochemical gradient.
What occurs when light interacts with a chlorophyll molecule?
Light absorbed by chlorophyll excites the electrons in the ring as shown above. … In each of these reaction centres, the ejected electron is transferred to an acceptor molecule, which can then pass it on to a different molecule and eventually the electron(s) can be used to fix carbon dioxide.