Science Performance Task Adrian Lou Bayarong 10 – Divine

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Effects of Exposing Green Plants to Green Light
Light is important for it is the source for all life on our planet. It can be important to us humans in the form of Vitamin D, as
well as for the plants through a process known as photosynthesis. Photosynthesis is the process used by plants, algae
and certain bacteria to turn sunlight, carbon dioxide (CO2) and water into food (sugars) and oxygen. 1 The pigment in the
plant responsible for absorbing light is the chlorophyll, which is contained in the chloroplast.

This research intends to make us understand the effects of exposing green plants to green light, and whether or not this
will result into enhancing the plant’s fruit and flora production.
It is predicted that exposing green light to green plants minimizes growth, unlike those which are exposed to red and blue
light. This will be indicated by the chlorophyll’s ability to absorb light.
Sunlight is a mixture of all colors of light where each color has a different wavelength, and thus a different amount of
energy. For plants to absorb light, they have chlorophylls. There are five types of chlorophyll in nature, with two main
types namely chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b, being found in plants. Chlorophyll a absorbs violet and orange light the
most, while chlorophyll b absorbs mostly blue and yellow lights. 2 Therefore, they absorb more light in the blue and red
wavelengths of the spectrum of visible light. Green light on the other hand, is absorbed for only about 90% of its photons.
The remaining amount of light is reflected, which is why green plants appear green. 3

Exposing green plants to green light does have some effects though. A demonstration of this was during the 2004
California State Fair, where Nichele R. Lee presented a project titled “Photosynthesis: What Color Light Helps Plants
Grow?”. She soaked kidney beans in water, planted them in six pots labeled with the color of light inserted in its
greenhouse, and proceeded to monitor and compare plant growth with the lights on all the time. After 3 weeks, the results
were that the beans in red light grew the tallest and healthiest, while the beans in green light germinated the fastest but
also appeared weak.4
Daniel Mosquin of the University of British Columbia Botanical Garden provided this important information regarding the
use of green light and chlorophyll a: "It may not kill them, depending on the relative amount of other accessory pigments,
but it will certainly make them suffer, since chlorophyll a absorbs very little light in the green part of the spectrum.” He then
provided a link5, where it has a statement that says "Chlorophyll does not absorb all the wavelengths of visible light
equally. Chlorophyll a, the most important light-absorbing pigment in plants, does not absorb light in the green part of the
spectrum. Light in this range of wavelengths is reflected. This is the reason why chlorophyll is green and also why plants
(which contain a lot of chlorophyll) are also green." 6
However, this does not mean green light is not important for plant growth. Blue and red light are absorbed at the upper
side of the leaves and is efficient at driving photosynthesis, while green light is transmitted deeper into the leaf and is
more efficient than either blue or red light at driving CO2 fixation at the abaxial (lower) sides. 7 It still wouldn’t be advisable
to use only green light since red and blue light is still important for photosynthesis to work.

In a situation where a light bulb company advertises how exposing green plants to green light will enhance their fruit and
flora production, the main points to remember as to why you should not believe this claim are:
1) Green light is poorly absorbed by the two types of chlorophyll when extracted in solution. 9
2) Plants need the entire spectrum of light. The sunlight is a perfect example of this. Also, blue light can work alone,
while red can’t. Nevertheless, red light with blue light is the most ideal. 10
3) The amount of light a plant needs depends on the type of plant and the current stage of its growth.
 4) With light bulbs, rather than just choosing one color for the plants, it is advisable to choose a full spectrum light
bulb.
5) Blue light is actually helpful for growing leaves on plants, and red light when mixed with blue, can assist with the
flowering portion of a plant's growth. 11
To summarize, green plants do need green light for both photosynthesis and to penetrate the chlorophyll and other
accessory pigments located deeper in the leaf, where the blue and red light cannot penetrate. However, it is not just only
green light that green plants need. All other lights are also important for its growth, namely blue and red light. In
conclusion, the only way a light bulb can help plant growth is if it provides not just green, red, or blue light but the entire
spectrum of visible light.

References List
1. Daisy Dobrijevic. (2021). What is photosynthesis?

Retrieved from https://www.livescience.com/51720-photosynthesis.html

2. Angel Rubio. (2015). The true color of chlorophyll.

Retrieved from https://www.mpsd.mpg.de/17628/2015-04-chlorophyll-rubio

3. Rodrigo Pérez Ortega. (2020). Why Are Plants Green? To Reduce the Noise in Photosynthesis.

Retrieved from https://www.quantamagazine.org/why-are-plants-green-to-reduce-the-noise-in-photosynthesis-

20200730/

4. Nichele R. Lee. (2004). Photosynthesis: What Color Light Helps Plants Grow?

Retrieved from https://csef.usc.edu/History/2004/Projects/J16.pdf (p. 16)

5. http://www.botany.uwc.ac.za/ecotree/photosynthesis/spectrum.htm

6. Steve Lucas. (n.d.). Will Green Light Kill Your Plants?

Retrieved from https://www.exoticrainforest.com/Will%20green%20light%20kill.html

7. Anonymous. (2012). Which regions of the electromagnetic spectrum do plants use to drive photosynthesis?

Retrieved from http://www.esalq.usp.br/lepse/imgs/conteudo_thumb/Which-regions-of-the-electromagnetic-

spectrum-do-plants-use-to-drive-photosynthesis.pdf (p. 6)

8. Hayley L. Smith, Lorna McAusland, Erik H. Murchie. (2016) Don’t ignore the green light: exploring diverse roles in plant

processes.

Retrieved from https://www.google.com/url?sa=i&url=https%3A%2F%2Fptop.only.wip.la%3A443%2Fhttps%2Facademic.oup.com%2Fjxb%2Farticle-pdf

 %2F68%2F9%2F2099%2F17634088%2Ferx098.pdf&psig=AOvVaw3Heg0XBX0HbPOHKIvYKOuc&ust=16391783

32028000&source=images&cd=vfe&ved=0CAwQjhxqFwoTCPjEk6Tt1_QCFQAAAAAdAAAAABAD (p. 6)

9. Erik Runkle. (2017). Growing Plants with Green Light.

Retrieved from https://gpnmag.com/article/growing-plants-with-green-light/

10. Steven. (2020). What Color Light Do Plants Grow Best In?

Retrieved from https://growlightinfo.com/what-color-light-do-plants-grow-best-in/

11. Arizona Master Gardener Manual. (2017). Tucson, Arizona: Arizona Legal Technologies.