Why Are Plants Green Instead of Black?

Nothing says "nature" like a lush green forest. But why are plants green in the first place?

Hosted by: Stefan Chin

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[Ceilingcat]

Me "Because the chlorophyll, " 5 seconds in the video - "but why is the chlorophyll green?" This legit broke me

[meetaverma]

The idea of plant rejecting the light sun emits the most of sounds like they're dieting

[GRBtutorials]

Interesting... maybe this could be used to predict the color of plants in exoplanets with different star types?

[andredpg]

The one question still unanswered: why is Hank Green?

[lyric]

"some plants are purple" I'm looking at you, my calathea ornata

[gavart]

Me: “well I mean I don’t really kno-“
5th graders: “CHLOROPHYLL, ITS GOTTA BE CHLOROPHYLL- ITS CHLOROPHYLL RIGHT? BRO ITS BECAUSE OF THE CHLOROPHYLL”

[harku]

I was LITERALLY just asking this question in my head about an hour ago

[xXxROFLOFxXx]

Now i wanna know more about these purple bacteria.

[talideon]

Of course, this is a radical simplification, because there are a whole bunch of plants that have purple leaves, or stems, thus attuning them partially or wholly for absorbtion of green light. This episode deserved a follow-up.

[lyndsaybrown]

Omg, you can't just ask why someone's green.

[QuestionEverythingButWHY]

“The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.”
― Plutarch

[neuralnetwork]

I've been asking myself this question for years, but I could never figure it out. Thank you, SciShow.

[Ahlivianne]

It is always so exciting to hear your university's name in these videos. Good job UCR!

[HmmmmmLemmeThinkNo]

I really love that you don't need to watch the video itself, bc I use these videos to keepe occupied during my scheduled look outside time (to keep my eyes healthy I have to look outside for so long so many times a day)

[Helveteshit]

@SciShow, in recent years due the growing popularity of Grow Lights. There is a hint of studies that show that plants may be Green because it allows it to pass through green rays to foliage that are shaded beneath, which may be other branches of a tree or the plant. Making it appear, as if the green colour is also a way of them to provide nutrients to leaves in the shade of the top growth.

[LinkFreak]

I've been asking this specific question for weeks now. Thanks for making this video.

[toastghost]

Excellent timing; I was wondering this just the other day.

[al]

The purple prediction is just amazing!!!

[GhostBusters]

Its crazy how nature has figured out how to handle a lot of different situations it makes sense how it could take millions of years to perfect

[dans]

I've also heard that plants do absorb a small part of green (and reflect most). Apparently red/blue is mostly absorbed in the upper 5% of the leaf and the green light that is absorbed can penetrate deeper.