Question

what happens when chlorophyll and other pigments absorb light?

Answer 1

It makes ATP energy

Answer 2

tqvm

Answer 3

a lot of things happen, if you can be specific as to what you are looking for then I can provide a more detailed answer

Answer 4

When the chlorophyll absorbs light the photo reaction center gets excited and the electron is transported through electron transport chain and it is used in breakdown of water in oxygen and hydrogen ions and the other electrons are used in synthesis of carbohydrates .

Answer 5

Photons strike antenna chlorophyll molecules in plants, which excites electrons in the photo-reaction centers attached to the antennas to higher energy levels. The electrons are then separated by the chlorophyll photo-reaction center from the electron holes they leave behind and the two are able to react separately with different molecules on opposite sides of the photo-reaction center, with the electron reducing CO2 and protons (H+) to carbohydrates (CH2O) and with the electron hole oxidizing H2O to oxygen (O2), protons (H+), and electrons (e-)[1].

Chlorophyll's structure is such that it absorbs light primarily in the 400-700 nm region of the radiation spectrum, called Photosynthetically Active Radiation, which contains 50% of the energy in solar photons. The plant itself only physically absorbs 80% of incident photons in the 400-700 nm range, with the rest lost to reflection, transmission, and absorption by other molecules. Of this 40% of the total incident solar energy which makes it to the chlorophyll antenna system, only 28 percent is converted to carbohydrates, the rest are lost in electron transfer and chemical steps. Thus, the maximum possible conversion efficiency from sunlight to carbohydrates is 50% * 80% * 28% = 11%. Land-based plants uses 40% of the energy for its own metabolic needs, leaving 11% * 60% = 6.7% as the portion of incoming sunlight which is stored as photosynthetic energy. This maximum possible conversion efficiency is for C4 plants (named such because their first photosynthetic product is a 4-carbon sugar), which include corn, sugar cane, switchgrass, and sorghum; C3 plants, which account for 95% of the global plant biomass (named such because their first photosynthetic product is a 3-carbon sugar), have a maximum possible photosynthetic efficiency approximately half as efficient (~3.4% maximum) because of differences in their photosynthetic systems