pigments

• Photosynthesis


  Plants capture light energy and use it to make sugars
• Pigments


  Specialized organic molecules that absorb light and are found in the chloroplast of plant cells
• Chloroplast


  An organelle that contains the photosynthetic pigment chlorophyll and is the site of photosynthesis
• Light


  A form of electromagnetic radiation, a type of energy that travels in waves
• Electromagnetic spectrum


  Entire distribution of electromagnetic radiation according to frequency or a wavelength
• Wavelength and energy of light

  • Red has the longest wavelength and the least energy
  • Violet has the shortest wavelength and the most energy
• Photons


  Particles of electromagnetic radiation
• Types of radiation with long wavelengths

  Have low-energy photons
• Types of radiation with short wavelengths

  Have high-energy photons
• Absorption spectrum


  Set of wavelengths absorbed by a pigment
• Key pigments in photosynthesis

  • Chlorophyll a
  • Chlorophyll b
  • B-carotene
• Groups of pigments important in plants

  • Chlorophyll
  • Carotenoids
• Chlorophyll a


  Plays a very unique and crucial role in photosynthesis
• Organisms containing chlorophyll

  • Photosynthetic plants
  • Algae
  • Cyanobacteria
• Chlorophyll b


  Found in plants, green algae, few types of cyanobacteria
• Accessory pigments


  All pigments used in addition to chlorophyll a
• Carotenoids


  Plant pigments responsible for bright red, yellow, and orange hues in many fruits and vegetables
• Types of carotenoids

  • Xanthophyll
  • Carotene
• Carotenoids


  Help get rid of excess energy