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Name: Luke
Status: other
Grade: other
Location: N/A
Country: Philippines
Date: Fall 2010
Question:
What is chlorophyll activation?


Replies:
The following is a technical article but it does use the term chlorophyll activation:

http://www.plantphysiol.org/cgi/reprint/35/6/802.pdf

a type of photoactivation:

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/photoactivation

Anthony R. Brach, PhD
Missouri Botanical Garden

Chlorophyll becomes activated (obtains a positive charge) when it absorbs a photon of light energy and loses an electron.

During the process of photosynthesis, a molecule of chlorophyll becomes activated when it absorbs light energy (photon), causing one of its electrons to move to a higher energy state. The energized electron is then transferred to an acceptor molecule. The missing electron is then replaced by an electron derived from the splitting of water. It is at the moment when the electron is leaving that the activated chlorophyll molecule exerts a positive charge attracting an electron from the water. Water is split into its components: protons (H+), electrons, and oxygen. Most of the oxygen split from the water is released into the atmosphere as molecular O2. In this process light energy is converted to chemical energy by a series of electron transfer reactions.

Dana Clark


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