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Thursday, October 13, 2011
Why Do Leaves Change Colors?
We had a spectacular fall weekend here in Chicago with warm weather and the leaves just beginning to turn color. It made us think about why leaves change colors.
During Spring and Summer, leaves are green because of chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is used in photosynthesis - the process by which plants obtain energy from light. The chlorophyll captures the light and uses the energy with water and carbon dioxide to form sugars. The sugars provide the energy to the plants to grow.
The light chlorophyll absorbs is in the blue and red portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. Since red and blue are being absorbed, they are not seen as...
