ther reactions used to synthesize glucose [5]. These two stages reflect the literal meaning of the term photosynthesis, to build with light. Photosynthesis relies on flows of energy and electrons initiated by light energy. Electrons are minute particles that travel in a specific orbit around the nuclei of atoms and carry a small electrical charge. Light energy causes the electrons in chlorophyll and other light-trapping pigments to boost up and out of their orbit; the electrons instantly fall back into place, releasing resonance or vibrating energy, as they go, all in millionths of a second. Chlorophyll and the other pigments are clustered next to one another in the photosystems, and the vibrating energy passes rapidly from one chlorophyll or pigment molecule to the next, like the transfer of energy in billiard balls [6]. Light contains many colors, each with a defined range of wavelengths measured in nanometers, or billionths of a meter. Certain red and blue wavelengths of light are the most effective in photosynthesis (Figure 10 & 11) because they have exactly the right amount of energy to energize, or excite, chlorophyll electrons and boost them out of their orbits to a higher energy level [7]. Other pigments, called accessory pigments, enhance the light-absorption (Figure 12) capacity of the leaf by capturing a broader spectrum of blue and red wavelengths, along with yellow and orange wavelengths. None of the pigments absorb green light; as a result, the green wavelengths are reflected, and therefore the plants appear green. Photosynthesis begins when light strikes Photosystem I pigments and excites their electrons. The energy passes rapidly from molecule to molecule until it reaches a special chlorophyll molecule called P700 [7]. It is named P700 because it absorbs light in the red region of the spectrum at wavelengths of 700 nanometers. Up to this point, only energy has moved from molecule to molecule; ...
