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The photosynthetic efficiency is the fraction of light energy converted into chemical energy during photosynthesis in green plants and algae. Photosynthesis can be described by the simplified chemical reaction 6 H 2 O + 6 CO 2 + energy → C 6 H 12 O 6 + 6 O 2
Photosynthesis occurs in two stages. In the first stage, light-dependent reactions or light reactions capture the energy of light and use it to make the hydrogen carrier NADPH and the energy-storage molecule ATP. During the second stage, the light-independent reactions use these products to capture and reduce carbon dioxide.
The light-harvesting system of PSI uses multiple copies of the same transmembrane proteins used by PSII. The energy of absorbed light (in the form of delocalized, high-energy electrons) is funneled into the reaction center, where it excites special chlorophyll molecules (P700, with maximum light absorption at 700 nm) to a higher energy level.
The primary producers can convert the energy in the light (phototroph and photoautotroph) or the energy in inorganic chemical compounds (chemotrophs or chemolithotrophs) to build organic molecules, which is usually accumulated in the form of biomass and will be used as carbon and energy source by other organisms (e.g. heterotrophs and mixotrophs).
For example, most plants are photolithoautotrophic, since they use light as an energy source, water as electron donor, and CO 2 as a carbon source. All animals and fungi are chemoorganoheterotrophic , since they use organic substances both as chemical energy sources and as electron/hydrogen donors and carbon sources.
Photosystem II (of cyanobacteria and green plants) is composed of around 20 subunits (depending on the organism) as well as other accessory, light-harvesting proteins. Each photosystem II contains at least 99 cofactors: 35 chlorophyll a, 12 beta-carotene , two pheophytin , two plastoquinone , two heme , one bicarbonate, 20 lipids, the Mn
Photoexcitation is the first step in a photochemical process where the reactant is elevated to a state of higher energy, an excited state.The first law of photochemistry, known as the Grotthuss–Draper law (for chemists Theodor Grotthuss and John W. Draper), states that light must be absorbed by a chemical substance in order for a photochemical reaction to take place.
Examples of transducers include a battery (from chemical energy to electric energy), a dam (from gravitational potential energy to kinetic energy of moving water (and the blades of a turbine) and ultimately to electric energy through an electric generator), and a heat engine (from heat to work).