Energy sunlight

FIGURE 1-5 Organisms can be classified according to their source of energy (sunlight or oxidizable chemical compounds) and their source of carbon for the synthesis of cellular material. 

CFCs are inert, odorless, and nontoxic, and they have been used as refrigerants, solvents, and aerosol propellants. Because CFCs are volatile and water insoluble, they readily escape into the upper atmosphere, where they are decomposed by high-energy sunlight to form radicals that destroy ozone by the radical chain mechanism shown in Mechanism 15.2 (Figure 15.7). 

The complex and diverse morphologies of plants and animals are examples of the whole being greater than the sum of the Individual parts, more technically described as the emergent properties of a complex system. For example, the root-stem-leaf organization of plants permits them to simultaneously obtain energy (sunlight) and carbon (CO2) from... 

The temperature of solar energy (sunlight) reaching the earth is approximately 6000 °C. (The temperature of light depends on the intensity of the colors, (wavelengths), not how hot it feels )... 

There are difficulties in making such cells practical. High-band-gap semiconductors do not respond to visible light, while low-band-gap ones are prone to photocorrosion [182, 185]. In addition, both photochemical and entropy or thermodynamic factors limit the ideal efficiency with which sunlight can be converted to electrical energy [186]. 

In photosynthesis, nature recycles carbon dioxide and water, using the energy of sunlight, into carbohydrates and thus new plant life. The subsequent formation of fossil fuels from the biomass, however, takes... 

Of all the monosaccharides d (+) glucose is the best known most important and most abundant Its formation from carbon dioxide water and sunlight is the central theme of photosynthesis Carbohydrate formation by photosynthesis is estimated to be on the order of 10 tons per year a source of stored energy utilized directly or indi rectly by all higher forms of life on the planet Glucose was isolated from raisins m 1747 and by hydrolysis of starch m 1811 Its structure was determined in work culmi nating m 1900 by Emil Fischer... 

Carotenoids absorb visible light (Section 13 21) and dissipate its energy as heat thereby protecting the organism from any potentially harmful effects associated with sunlight induced photochemistry They are also indirectly involved m the chemistry of vision owing to the fact that p carotene is the biosynthetic precursor of vitamin A also known as retinol a key substance m the visual process... 

Solar-thermal technology uses tracking mirrors to concentrate sunlight onto a receiver. In turn, the receiver absorbs solar energy as heat, warming a fluid that then drives a turbine generator. Most solar-thermal plants requite cooling water. 

---