Chlorophyll a chlorophyll biosynthesis. Chlorophyll "a" absorbs light within the violet, blue and red wavelengths while mainly reflecting green. This reflectance gives chlorophyll its green appearance. Accessory photosynthetic pigments broaden the spectrum of light absorbed, increasing the range of wavelengths that can be used in photosynthesis. The addition of chlorophyll "b" next to chlorophyll "a" extends the absorption spectrum. In low light conditions, plants produce a greater ratio of chlorophyll "b" to chlorophyll "a" molecules, increasing photosynthetic yield. Absorption of light by photosynthetic pigments converts photons into chemical energy. Light energy radiating onto the chloroplast strikes the pigments in the thylakoid membrane
Photon energy to date, very-high-energy gamma rays, have photon energies of 100 GeV to 100 TeV (10 to 10 electronvolts) or 0.016 microjoules to 0.016 millijoules. This corresponds to frequencies of 2.42 × 10 to 2.42 × 10 Hz. A photon with a wavelength equal to the Planck length would have an energy of about 7.671 × 10 eV or 1.229 × 10 joules (12.29 gigajoules). This is roughly the amount of energy produced by the world's most powerful coal-fired power station, the Taichung Power Plant, during a period of 2.25 seconds. During photosynthesis, specific chlorophyll molecules absorb red-light photons at a