Additionally, how do we get Vitamin D from a nuclear reaction? It doesn’t seem intuitive that a nuclear fusion reaction would suffice me with an important nutrient.
In: 1
Because photons of light carry energy. They can be emitted when something is very hot. When the are absorbed they can bump electrons to higher states in their molecules.
This question and your other can be broken up into how the sun emits light and how life uses light. I think you’re more interested in the latter.
Different wavelengths of light have different properties. For those in a certain range, the human eye can register those as visible light, with a color. For those a little lower in energy (infrared) they are efficient at heating things up. Higher (ultraviolet) is higher energy.
Molecules in leaves or the skin are structured to use that energy for biological processes. Light gives a high energy electron as that is used to do stuff.
I’ll dig up some links.
https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/photosynthesis/ https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/sun/
Latest Answers