Question

When chlorophyll is exposed to green light a galvanometer measures high transmittance, and when chlorophyll is exposed to blue light a galvanometer measures low transmittance. Which statement(s) best explains these results?

Answer 1

Answer:

The high transmittance (low absorption) reading indicates that chlorophyll absorbs very little green light.

The low transmittance (high absorption) reading indicates that chlorophyll absorbs most blue light

Explanation:

• The galvanometer is a device which is used for measuring the electric current.
• In a spectrophotometer the galvanometer is attached to indicated the amount of light that is getting transmitted through a sample.
• If the amount of light that is getting transmitted from the sample is more, the reading of the galvanometer would be higher and if less light is transmitted the reading of the galvanometer would be less.
• Further, the transmittance of a light is inversely proportional to the absorption, that is if the absorption would be low transmittance would be high and vice versa.
• Therefore, when the chlorophyll is exposed to green light, the transmittance is high and this implies that the absorption of green light would be less.
• Similarly, when the chlorophyll is exposed to blue light, a low transmittance indicates a higher absorption of blue light by chlorophyll.