What Makes Plants Green?

Understanding what makes plants green means that you must understand a little bit about the electromagnetic spectrum. Green plants are all around us--we even eat green, leafy vegetables as a way to achieve adequate nutrition.

Anatomy of a Plant

All plants are made of three main parts: roots, stems and leaves. Roots are used to anchor the plant and allow it to take up water and nutrients. Stems are the main support for the leaves and transport water and nutrients. The leaves are the most important part, because this is where photosynthesis occurs.

Photosynthesis

Photosynthesis is the process that plants use to make food for themselves. Plants combine CO2, water and sunlight in a chemical reaction to produce sugars. The sugars are used to feed the plant. Oxygen is a byproduct of the photosynthesis reaction.

Visible Light Spectrum

The electromagnetic spectrum is a large spectrum of different energy levels. A small part of the spectrum is the visible light spectrum. The visible light spectrum starts off with reds and goes to violet. Understanding the spectrum is an important part of understanding why plants are green.

Why are Plants Green?

Inside every leaf, there are millions and millions of tiny chlorophyll, which allow plants to perform photosynthesis and give them their green color. Chlorophyll absorb blue and red light--this means that the greens and yellows are reflected back, making plants appear green.

Fun Fact

Dutchman Jan Ingenhousz is credited with discovering photosynthesis. In his experiments he noticed that light had influenced a plants health very significantly. Making this discovery took over 500 experiments.