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The Learning Kingdom's Cool Fact of the Day for July 12, 1999
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How do plants collect the sun's energy?
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Green plants gather energy from sunlight and use it to build living
tissue in a process called photosynthesis. (Oxygen is also produced,
making plants the foundation of almost all life on Earth.)
Photosynthesis begins when chlorophyll molecules catch photons
("particles") of light. A chlorophyll molecule looks like a square
plate with a long tail. When a photon strikes a magnesium atom at
the center of the square, the atom releases a high-energy electron.
The electron is captured and sent along a complicated pathway.
Along the way, its energy is collected and used to build sugar out
of carbon dioxide and water.
More about chlorophyll:
http://scifun.chem.wisc.edu/chemweek/chlrphyl/chlrphyl.html
More about photosynthesis:
http://photoscience.la.asu.edu/photosyn/education/photointro.html
More Cool Facts about plants:
http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1997/07/14.html
http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1998/01/23.html
http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1998/12/16.html
http://www.cool-fact.com/archive/1999/01/06.html
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