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Chlorophyll, the most abundant plant pigment, is most efficient in capturing red and blue light. Accessory pigments such as carotenes and xanthophylls harvest some green light and pass it on to the photosynthetic process, but enough of the green wavelengths are reflected to give leaves their characteristic color.
Ultraviolet light is a form of electromagnetic radiation that ranges in wavelengths from 10 nm to 400 nm. [6] This wavelength is shorter than visible light but longer than X-rays. [6] As it sits on the lower edge of visible light, is what gives its name. The most effective wavelength of UV light is approximately 250 nm. [6]
Using longer wavelengths means less light energy is needed for the same number of photons and therefore for the same amount of photosynthesis. For actual sunlight, where only 45% of the light is in the photosynthetically active wavelength range, the theoretical maximum efficiency of solar energy conversion is approximately 11%.
When Emerson exposed green plants to differing wavelengths of light, he noticed that at wavelengths of greater than 680 nm the efficiency of photosynthesis decreased abruptly despite the fact that this is a region of the spectrum where chlorophyll still absorbs light (chlorophyll is the green pigment in plants - it absorbs mainly the red and blue wavelengths from light).
PSII will absorb red light, and PSI will absorb far-red light. Although photosynthetic activity will be detected when the photosystems are exposed to either red or far-red light, the photosynthetic activity will be the greatest when plants are exposed to both wavelengths of light. Studies have actually demonstrated that the two wavelengths ...
Chlorophyll a is the most common of the six, present in every plant that performs photosynthesis. Each pigment absorbs light more efficiently in a different part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Chlorophyll a absorbs well in the ranges of 400–450 nm and at 650–700 nm; chlorophyll b at 450–500 nm and at 600–650 nm. Xanthophyll absorbs ...
Plants perceive light through internal photoreceptors absorbing a specified wavelength signaling (photomorphogenesis) or transferring the energy to a plant process (photosynthesis). [5] In plants, the photoreceptors cryptochrome and phototropin absorb radiation in the blue spectrum (B: λ=400–500 nm) and regulate internal signaling such as ...
The cellular structure of the vegetation then causes this infrared light to be reflected because each cell acts something like an elementary corner reflector. [citation needed] The change can be from 5% to 50% reflectance going from 680 nm to 730 nm. This is an advantage to plants in avoiding overheating during photosynthesis.