In article <2gjq3f$21o at mserv1.dl.ac.uk> SCHLOSSER at ciit.org writes:
>In <9401061749.AA19905 at net.bio.net>
>mroussel at alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca (Marc Roussel) writes:
>> Ever since this discussion started, I've been trying to decide why
>> we should care whether or not photosynthesis removes heat from its
>> surroundings.
>>I assumed that the question was to what extent the process heats or cools
>the plant involved (in which case, one should not count the photons, since
>absorbing them does not cool the plant). This might be important for plants
>living at very high or low temperatures.
I find it hard to believe that this would be a significant effect.
Because photosynthesis always takes place near the surface of the plant
(usually in thin structures like leaves), even a very small thermal
coupling term to the environment should suffice to hold the temperature
at that of the environment, unless the conductivity of the plant is very
large. I don't think that this is usually (ever?) the case.
Marc R. Roussel
mroussel at alchemy.chem.utoronto.ca
