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Photoautotrophs are organisms that can utilize light energy from sunlight and elements (such as carbon) from inorganic compounds to produce organic materials needed to sustain their own metabolism (i.e. autotrophy). Such biological activities are known as photosynthesis, and examples of such organisms include plants, algae and cyanobacteria.
Photosynthesis is a process where light is absorbed or harvested by pigment protein complexes which are able to turn sunlight into energy. [5] Absorption of a photon by a molecule takes place when pigment protein complexes harvest sunlight leading to electronic excitation delivered to the reaction centre where the process of charge separation can take place.
To do this, it must release the absorbed energy. This can happen in various ways. The extra energy can be converted into molecular motion and lost as heat, or re-emitted by the electron as light (fluorescence). The energy, but not the electron itself, may be passed onto another molecule; this is called resonance energy transfer.
Hematite (/ ˈ h iː m ə ˌ t aɪ t, ˈ h ɛ m ə-/), also spelled as haematite, is a common iron oxide compound with the formula, Fe 2 O 3 and is widely found in rocks and soils. [6] Hematite crystals belong to the rhombohedral lattice system which is designated the alpha polymorph of Fe 2 O 3. It has the same crystal structure as corundum ...
The light-harvesting complex (or antenna complex; LH or LHC) is an array of protein and chlorophyll molecules embedded in the thylakoid membrane of plants and cyanobacteria, which transfer light energy to one chlorophyll a molecule at the reaction center of a photosystem. The antenna pigments are predominantly chlorophyll b, xanthophylls, and ...
The photosynthetic efficiency (i.e. oxygenic photosynthesis efficiency) is the fraction of light energy converted into chemical energy during photosynthesis in green plants and algae. Photosynthesis can be described by the simplified chemical reaction 6 H 2 O + 6 CO 2 + energy → C 6 H 12 O 6 + 6 O 2
The underlying force driving these reactions is the Gibbs free energy of the reactants relative to the products. If donor and acceptor (the reactants) are of higher free energy than the reaction products, the electron transfer may occur spontaneously. The Gibbs free energy is the energy available ("free") to do work.
The free energy created is then used, via a chain of nearby electron acceptors, for a transfer of hydrogen atoms (as protons and electrons) from H 2 O or hydrogen sulfide towards carbon dioxide, eventually producing glucose. These electron transfer steps ultimately result in the conversion of the energy of photons to chemical energy.