Photosynthesis of Plant Pigments from Light Energy

In photosynthesis, the primary energy production system for autotrophic organisms, many chemical reactions occur in order to construct the storage units for glucose and fuel synthesis. These reactions provide the backbone on which all ecosystems and food webs are based upon. Photosynthesis requires several raw materials in order to function. These include an external energy source (sunlight), carbon dioxide, and water. Photosynthesis processes start with the absorption of sunlight for the breakdown of producing the constituent parts of water, hydrogen and oxygen, where molecular oxygen O2 is eliminated as a water gas. The hydrogen reacts with carbon dioxide. The resulting product is sugar, which is stored for further usage by the plant as fuel for the growth process requiring respiration.

Unfortunately, not all colors of the visible light spectrum may be absorbed for maximum effect on photosynthesis. In the experiment, the idea

The second part of the experiment extracted different types of the photosynthetic pigments present in chlorophyll. It is known that non-polar substances dissolve in non-polar solvents first and slide quickly across chromatography paper. Conversely, the polar substances will be attracted y the polar paper and move extremely slowly, thus separating the different types of chlorophylls and pigments present within chloroplasts. Chlorophyll extract was made using similar process in the first part of the experiment, complete with centrifuge. The extract was then placed in acetone solution, the acetone used in this case as an organic solvent. The extract was then deposited onto a chromatography paper in a streak across a pencil line along the bottom. This was repeated several times, each time after the streak dried to ensure complete saturation of the target area with chlorophyll units. The chromatography paper was then placed in a petroleum ether solution (solvent) and sealed within the container. With the atmosphere of the jar now saturated with solvent, the chromatography paper and polar properties of said paper and pigments on the paper were set to work resulting in movement and separation of the different pigments in the extract. When the pigments were separated enough visually, the paper was removed and dried. The pigment ba

Some topics in this essay:
Materials Methods, Introduction Light, Result Discussion, chromatography paper, test tubes, test tube, deposited test tubes, visible light, carbon dioxide, pigments chlorophyll, types pigments, deposited test, absorption capabilities,