Light for Photosynthesis

To understand how the thylakoids of chloroplasts transform light energy into the chemical
energy of ATP and NADPH, it is necessary to know some important properties of light.
1. The nature of sunlight :

Sunlight is electromagnetic energy. The quantum mechanical model of electromagnetic

radiation describes light as having a behavior that is both wavelike and particle like.

Wavelike properties of light

        - Electromagnetic energy is a form of energy that travels in rhythmic waves which are
disturbances of electric and magnetic fields.

        - A wavelength is the distance between the crests of electromagnetic waves.

        - The electromagnetic spectrum ranges from wavelengths that are less than a nanometer
(gamma rays) to those that are more than a kilometer (radio waves).
        - Visible light, which is detectable by the human eye, is only a small portion of the
electromagnetic spectrum and ranges from about 380 to 750 nm. The wavelengths most
important for photosynthesis are within this range of visible light.

   Particlelike properties of light

        - Light also behaves as if it consists of discrete particles or quanta called photons.
        - Each photon has a fixed quantity of energy which is inversely proportional to the
wavelength of light (the shorter the wavelength the more energy it has).  For example, a
photon of violet light has nearly twice as much energy as a photon of red light.

The sun radiates the full spectrum of electromagnetic energy.

        - The atmosphere acts as a selective window that allows visible light to pass through while
screening out a substantial fraction of other radiation.
        - The visible range of light is the radiation that drives photosynthesis.
        - Blue and red, the two wavelengths most effectively absorbed by chlorophyll, are the
colors most useful as energy for the light reactions.

the vast majority of life on earth depends on sunlight for energy. Living things require energy
to stay alive. The main energy input to planet earth is from the sun. The sun produces a vast
amount of energy in many different forms. The main form of energy from the sun is in the form
of electromagnetic radiation, although it also produces vast quantities of subatomic charged
particles into the space around it. The electromagnetic radiation from the sun can be shown in
a diagram:
Visible light passes readily through the atmosphere, and it is these wavelengths
(between 400nm and 700nm) that photosynthetic organisms use. The sun produces
many wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation, but only visible radiation is used for
photosynthesis.

The energy produced by the sun reaches the earth as electromagnetic radiation. Light
and other forms of electromagnetic radiation are considered to have both a wave
nature and a particle nature. Particles or packets of light (its particle nature) are known
as photons - the smallest divisible units of light..

Chlorophyll does not absorb all the wavelengths of visible light equally. Chlorophyll a,
the most important light-absorbing pigment in plants, does not absorb light in the green
part of the spectrum.  Light in this range of wavelengths is reflected. This is the reason
why chlorophyll is green and also why plants (which contain a lot of chlorophyll) are also
green. Note in the graph above that the absorption of light by chlorophyll a is at a
maximum at two points on the graph 430 and 662 nm. The rate of photosynthesis at the
different wavelengths of visible light also show two peaks which roughly correspond to
the absorption peaks of chlorophyll a. Plants do not depend only on chlorophyll a in their
light harvesting machinery but also have other pigments (accessory pigments) which
absorb light of  different wavelengths.
 
Absorption Spectra of Chlorophylls