BIOL 1000 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1-2: Microfilament, Cell Membrane, Reactive Oxygen Species
Document Summary
Light serves 2 important functions: source of direct/indirect energy, provides organisms with information about the physical world. Example of this is green algae (chlamydomonas reinhardtii: single photosynthetic eukaryote cell containing single large chloroplast that harvests light for energy, uses eyespot to determine location and intensity of light. Electromagnetic radiation: conversion of hydrogen into helium. Light: portion of electromagnetic spectrum that is detectable by the human eyes, spanning from 400 700 nm. When photon of light reaches an object, has three fates: reflection, transmission, absorption. Energy of photon transferred to electron, which then puts electron in excited state. However, photon can only be absorbed if the energy of photon matches that needed to move the electron to its excited state. Pigments: class of molecules that are efficient at absorbing photons: chlorophyll a: involved in photosynthesis, retinal: vision, indigo: colour of jeans.