Chapter 17, Problem 17G.7P

Interpretation Introduction

Interpretation:

The first step in plant photosynthesis is absorption of light by chlorophyll molecules bound to proteins known as ‘light harvesting complexes’, where the fluorescence of a chlorophyll molecule is quenched by other nearby chlorophyll molecules.  Given that for a pair of chlorophyll a molecules, ${\text{R}}_{\text{o}}\text{=}\text{5}\text{.6}\text{nm}$, the distance by which two chlorophyll a molecules has to be separated to shorten the fluorescence lifetime from $\text{1}\text{ns}$ to $\text{10}\text{ps}$ has to be calculated.