Taking a Look at Photosynthetic Pigments

Photosynthesis and cell respiration are some of the two most important biological processes that organisms go through. Photosynthesis is the biological process plants undergo to convert light energy into chemical energy. In chloroplasts the chlorophyll act as catalysts for this process. The process uses carbon dioxide (CO2) and Water (H2O) in order to produce glucose (C6H1206) and oxygen (02). Thus, it is read as 6CO2 + 6H2O —> C6H12O6 + 6O2. Photosynthesis is split into two different processes. The first process is light Dependent meaning i uses energy being absorbed to break down and molecules at a rapid photosynthetic rate. The second process is Light Independent meaning it uses ATP and NADH absorbed during when light was present to breakdown glucose instead. Therefore, Healthy plants are green because Chlorophyll absorbs red and blue light, but reflects green light signifying stored light.Some Anaerobic bacteria undergo photosynthesis meaning it can’t grow in oxygen and uses Carbon Dioxide and other substances like hydrogen sulfide to photosynthesis. In general all plants need Carbon Dioxide. (Ensminger, 2014)

There are two main types of chlorophyll, chlorophyll a which absorbs wavelengths of 430nm (blue) and 662 (red) and is the main photosynthetic pigment, and chlorophyll b, which doesn’t directly participate in the photosynthetic process, but is capable of donating its energy to chlorophyll a

Photosynthesis occurs each time the sun’s light reaches the lives of a plant. The chemical ingrediants for photosynthesis are carbon dioxide (CO2), a gas that passes from the air into a plant via tiny pores, and water (H20), which absorbed from the soil by the plant’s roots. Inside leaf cells, tiny structures called chloroplasts use light energy to rearrange the atoms of the ingrediants to produce sugars, most importantly glucose (C6H12O6) and other organic molecules. Chlorophyll gives the plant its green color (Simon, 02/2012, pp. 92-93). Chemical reactions transfers the sun’s light energy into the chemical bonds that hold energy-carrying molecules. The most common are

Introduction: Photosynthesis can be defined as a solar powered process that removes atmospheric carbon dioxide and transforms it into oxygen and carbohydrates (Harris-Haller 2014). Photosynthesis can be considered to be the most important biochemical process on Earth because it helps plants to grow its roots, leaves, and fruits, and plants serve as autotrophs which are crucial to the food chain on earth. Several factors determine the process of photosynthesis. Light is one these factors and is the main subject of this experiment. The intensity of light is a property of light that is important for photosynthesis to occur. Brighter light causes more light to touch the surface of the plant which increases the rate of photosynthesis (Speer 1997). This is why there is a tendency of higher rates of photosynthesis in climates with a lot of sunlight than areas that primarily do not get as much sunlight. Light wavelength is also a property of

Photosynthesis is the process in which plants consumed inorganic materials like solar light, carbon dioxide and water and converted it to an organic molecule like sugar and an inorganic gas like oxygen. Light is one of the major elements influencing the rate of photosynthesis; direct light concentration affects the noncyclic pathway (light

The process of photosynthesis, by which light energy is used to convert inorganic compounds into organic substances with the release of oxygen, may be the most important biological event sustaining life (Keir et al. 2017). In the light-dependent reactions, the chloroplasts of a plant use the pigment chlorophyll to convert light energy into chemical energy. This energy is used to split water and produce oxygen (Eller et al. 2015). The energy is later used in the light independent reactions, where carbon dioxide (CO2) undergoes carbon fixation with the aid of enzyme rubisco, because it catalyses both carboxylation and oxygenation reactions and most of responses of photosynthesis to light, CO2, and temperature (John Evans 2013).

Photosynthesis occurs in all green plants and is the beginning of nearly all food chains therefore a source of life to all living organisms. It is the process where plants transform light energy from the sun into chemical energy. By using light energy trapped by chlorophyll (light absorbing pigment), plants combine carbon dioxide and water to form glucose and oxygen.

Pigments inside chloroplasts absorb the light. There are three types of pigment which allows the absorption of light of different wavelength, chlorophyll A, chlorophyll B and Carotenoids. They absorb light energy and thus help in initiation of the process through excitation of electron in the photosystem. Light coming from sun have rays of different colour of different wavelengths and the amount of light absorbed from chlorophyll might alter the rate of photosynthesis. To understand which wavelength chlorophyll absorbs the most we have to study the absorption spectra of chlorophyll.

During the separation of the pigments by chromatography paper, chlorophyll b traveled the shortest distance, chlorophyll a went above it, and the highest went beta carotene. This

The purpose of this experiment was to take spinach leaves and extract the chlorophyll and carotenoid pigments by using acetone as the solvent. The chlorophyll and carotenoid pigments were extracted by using column chromography and alumina was used as the solvent. Solvents of different polarities were used, starting with the least polar, to extract the certain components from the leaves. They were then analyzed by using thin- layer chromatography.

The energy from the absorbed blue and red light waves is used for the photosynthesis process. The visible green light waves cannot be absorbed by the plant.

However, the photosynthetic process can be affected by different environmental factors. In the following experiment, we tested the effects that the light intensity, light wavelength and pigment had on photosynthesis. The action spectrum of photosynthesis shows which wavelength of light is the most effective using only one line. The absorption spectrum plots how much light is absorbed at different wavelengths by one or more different pigment types. Organisms have different optimal functional ranges, so it is for our benefit to discover the conditions that this process works best. If the environmental conditions of light intensity, light wavelength and pigment type are changed, then the rate of photosynthesis will increase with average light intensity and under the wavelengths of white light which will correspond to the absorption spectrum of the pigments. The null hypothesis to this would be; if the environmental conditions light intensity, light wavelength and pigment type are changed, then the rate of photosynthesis will decrease with average light intensity and under the white light which will correspond to the absorption spectrum of the pigments.

In this lab, varying wavelengths were used to test how light affects photosynthesis and respiration as a whole. The absorbance of lights from 380 nm to 720 nm of chlorophyll pigment from the Elodea sample

     Photosynthesis has a two-stage performance before plants produce the two products they are known to produce. These stages are Photosystem I and II. Photosystem II is dependant on light reactions for energy which causes the electrons to be react and be transferred to Photosystem II. The electrons are transported through the Photosystem II electron transport system, however some energy is used to drive ATP synthesis. Meanwhile, light is being absorbed by the Photosystem I, which causes the electrons to react. This process sends the electrons to the Photosystem I transport system where some energy is released as electrons travel through the electron transport system and is captured as NADPH. When this process is completed oxygen is released from the plant and glucose has been

     To metabolic pathways involved in photosynthesis are light reaction and dark reaction. The first stage of the photosynthetic system is the light-dependent reaction, which converts solar energy into chemical energy. Light absorbed by chlorophyll or other photosynthetic pigments is used to drive a transfer of electrons and hydrogen from water to and acceptor called NADP , reducing it to the form of NADPH by adding a pair of electrons and a single proton. The water or some other donor molecule is split in the process. The light reaction also generates ADP, a process called photophosphorylation. ATP is a versatile source of chemical energy used in most biological processes. The light reaction produces no carbohydrates such as sugars.