Fixing one carbon atom into sugar takes at least eight photons and stores per mole of .
PHYSICS · Multi-part · Fermi University Physics · Biophysics & Medical Physics · Earth, Climate & Energy Physics · Molecular machines, transport and bioenergetics
Energy from Physics, Ch Heat engines on fuel: exergy, real cycles, biomass and the nuclear heat source
Problem
Fixing one carbon atom into sugar takes at least eight photons and stores 478kJ per mole of CH2O.
((a)) Find the energy of a mole of photons at 600nm, and the efficiency of the photochemical step for light of that wavelength.
((b)) A C4 crop is capped at 6.0 per cent of incident sunlight. On a site with a year-round mean of 180Wm−2, find the largest dry-matter yield this allows, in tonnes per hectare per year, at 16MJkg−1.
((c)) The crop actually yields 20tha−1yr−1. What fraction of its ceiling is that?