Question

In 1932, Robert Emerson and William Arnold used isolated spinach chloroplasts to determine that it requires 2,400 chlorophyll molecules to generate one O2 molecule. Based on this number and your understanding of where and how O2 is formed in chloroplasts, if a spinach chloroplast absorbs 720 photons, then how many resonance energy transfer reactions occur in the light-harvesting complexes and how many O2 molecules are formed

Answer 1

There will be 216,000 energy transfer reactions

90
`O_(2)` molecules will be formed

Step-by-step explanation:

since 2400 chlorophyll molecules = ( 1 )
`O_(2)` molecule

hence there will be 8 photons absorbed in this process

for 720 absorbed photons

The number of
`O_(2)` molecules formed = 720 / 8 = 90 molecules of
`O_(2)` molecule formed

Total number of resonance energy transfer reactions

( 1 )
`O_(2)` molecule = 2400 molecules

hence 90 molecules of
`O_(2)`

= 2400 molecules * 90 molecules

= 216000 energy transfer reactions