Plants use red and blue light most efficiently for photosynthesis and to regulate other processes. However, they do use other light colors as well for photosynthesis. In fact, they use every color except green, which they reflect back. (That is why plants appear green; they absorb all the other spectrums except green.) Just some info. I found. :)
http://www.glenbrook.k12.il.us/gbssci/phys/Class/light/u12l2a2.gif
It was previously thought that there was some kind of reality inversion, i.e. uniformity/design was missing and therefore so was the corresponding colour, but this new information still fits. :)
curioucity
10-27-03, 11:12 AM
Suddenly I wonder what's the matter with green.... it's on neither extremes of visible color spectrum, yet it's chosen to be deflected....
guthrie
10-27-03, 01:29 PM
Well, its perhaps not used becasue its not energetic enough, or the plants have not developed molecules that can absorb the particular wavelenght of light we call green.
curioucity
10-28-03, 01:15 AM
Your second reason qualifies for a consideration, guthrie, not the first one.... Red is supposedly less energetic than green for its longer wavelength....
Catastrophe
10-28-03, 02:23 AM
http://users.rcn.com/jkimball.ma.ultranet/BiologyPages/L/LightReactions.html
halucigenia
11-13-03, 07:56 AM
Other organisms use other photosynthetic pigments known as Carotenoids and Phycobilins which can be from blue to red in colour.
See
http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/glossary/gloss3/pigments.html
I guess these organisms do use the green wavelengths of light for photosynthesis, so it’s not that there is “something the matter with green” just that majority of macroscopic plant life seems to have evolved that way. Cyanobacteria evolved in a different direction, using other photosynthetic pigments. And by the way were probably the first photosyntesysers and gave us the oxygen that we and other organisms depend on.
Mucker - what do you mean by
It was previously thought that there was some kind of reality inversion, i.e. uniformity/design was missing and therefore so was the corresponding colour, but this new information still fits
You lost me.
John Connellan
03-04-04, 02:11 PM
The molecules plants assemble using the energy from light probably just requires longer and higher wavelengths. There are no molecules which can be assembled using the green frequency.
Starthane Xyzth
03-06-04, 03:14 AM
If we could study the detailed spectrum of an Earthlike planet orbiting a very red, M-class star, we might find indications of strong green-light absorbtion - there'd be virtually no blue wavelengths, and vegetation would scrounge what little green (high-frequency) light they could get. They might also exploit infra-red wavelengths for photosynthesis, and reflect in the red - which they could waste.