EVERYDAY SCIENCE

Detailed explanation-1: -The colours of visible light form a colour wheel. Within that wheel the colour an object appears to be is the colour complementary to the one it most strongly absorbs. As such, plants look green because they absorb red light most efficiently and the green light is reflected.

Detailed explanation-2: -Land plants are green because their photosynthetic pigments reflect green light, even though those wavelengths hold the most energy.

Detailed explanation-3: -Sometimes one may hear that plants don’t use green light for photosynthesis, they reflect it. However, this is only partly true. While most plants reflect more green than any other in the visible spectrum, a relatively small percentage of green light is transmitted through or reflected by the leaves.

Detailed explanation-4: -The correct answer is (B) Chlorophyll reflects green light. Chlorophyll is a pigment that absorbs electromagnetic radiation corresponding to visible light and uses its energy to fuel photosynthesis.

Detailed explanation-5: -In conclusion, plant leaves are green because green light is less efficiently absorbed by chlorophylls a and b than red or blue light, and therefore green light has a higher probability to become diffusely reflected from cell walls than red or blue light.