Bio 30-AP

Stroma

The thick matrix within a chloroplast

Thylakoid

Membranous sacs where photosynthesis occurs

Grana

Stacks of thylakoids

Light

packets of energy that have specific wavelengths and are made up of photons

Pigment

molecules that absorb specific wavelengths of light

Absorption spectrum

A graph that demonstrates wavelengths (colors) of light absorbed

Action spectrum

A graph that demonstrates the wavelengths (colors) of light used; essentially the sum total of the absorption spectrum

Englemann’s Experiment

An experiment in which a long filament of algae had different sections exposed to different wavelengths of light using a prism and growth of aerobic bacteria determined the action spectrum

Photosystem II

A complex in the membrane of the thylakoid that uses light to excite and pass on electrons to a primary electron acceptor and into the electron transport chain

Photolysis

The process of using light energy to split water molecules; used in photosynthesis to replaced lost excited electrons in the pigments of photosystem II

Photosystem I

A complex in the thylakoid membrane that receives electrons from the electron transport chain to re-excite pass on to a primary acceptor to pass on to NADP+ reductase

NADP+ reductase

an enzyme in the thylakoid membrane that takes NADP+ and pairs it with an NADPH to send to the Calvin cycle