Open AccessThe formation of nitrites from nitrates in aqueous solution by the action of sunlight, and the assimilation of the nitrites by green leaves in sunlight
Author(s) -
Benjamin Moore
Publication year - 1918
Publication title -
proceedings of the royal society of london. series b, containing papers of a biological character
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2053-9185
pISSN - 0950-1193
DOI - 10.1098/rspb.1918.0007
Subject(s) - chemical energy , chemistry , chemical reaction , aqueous solution , exothermic reaction , sunlight , endothermic process , photochemistry , chemical transformation , organic chemistry , inorganic chemistry , physics , adsorption , astronomy
The number of chemical changes brought about by the activity of light is multitudinous, and the study of these reactions has been very intensive in recent years. In the majority of the photo-chemical reactions, the effect produced is that of hastening an exothermic reaction, and in this resembles the action of a catalyst. The substances formed have a less content of chemical energy than the mother substances, and are usually of a more simple structural type. In such cases there is no clear proof of transformation, or conversion, of light-energy into chemical energy, and the light acts more as a detonator to a chemical reaction in which chemical energy is set free. The most important case of an endothermic reaction set up by the action of light is that in which the synthesis of formaldehyde and carbohydrate is effected in the green leaf, by that action of light upon water and carbon dioxide in which the light-energy is converted into chemical energy and stored up.