I’ve Googled and every source I come across just says “plants gather (light) energy from the sun and use it for photosynthesis.” What exactly is “light energy”? Is is some sort of radiation? Is it just heat?
In: Planetary Science
Every photon (particle of light) has energy. The amount of that energy depends on the light frequency. When absorbed by electrons in the atoms, this energy is converted into the energy level of the electron (it goes to higher orbitals). When photons (around the frequency of red) hit chlorophyl (the green pigment of plants), the electrons will jump from one chrolophyl to another, creating an “electron hole”. This “hole” will then “rip apart” a water molecule and create a high energy hydrogen ion, that can be used to synthetize organic compounds.
No, heat (a way of passing energy by random wiggling of molecules) is not enough to do photosynthesis.
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