Lesson 5: The Light Dependent Reaction (Summary)

This topic is a big, and complicated, topic. Here's a summary to help you.

Light dependent reactions happen in the thylakoid membrane of chloroplasts.

  • They occur in the presence of sunlight.
  • The sunlight is converted into chemical energy during these reactions.
  • Chlorophyll in the plants absorb sunlight and transfers to the photosystem.
  • The photosystems are responsible for photosynthesis.

 

Energy resulting from the photoionisation of chlorophyll is used for three things.

  1. Making ATP from ADP and Pi. This is called photophosphorylation.
  2. Making reduced NADP from NADP.
  3. Splitting water into protons (H+ ions), electrons and oxygen. This is called photolysis.