Biology 2601A/B Lecture Notes - Ferredoxin, Glyceraldehyde 3-Phosphate, Hemoglobin
15 Jan 2013
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Document Summary
Autotrophs make food from sunlight (and other energy sources), while heterotrophs have to use the food to do work. Photosynthesis is by far the most important biological process on earth due to carbon fixation happening because of algae hotspots in the oceans and canada"s boreal forest. There is an annual cycle of co2 concentration in the atmosphere that constantly increases, and then decreases. This is referred to as planetary breathing and it is the respiring of co2 in the atmosphere. Plants are far more efficient than solar panels and other commercial photovoltaic cells. The range of wavelengths and frequencies of the visible spectrum of light is the only kind used in photosynthesis. Molecules that absorb photons are generally observed as being the same colour as the wavelengths they are reflecting. In the case of green chlorophyll, it reflects green light. The absorption of the photon increases the energy level of the molecule.
