• Question: Why is grass green?

    Asked by Natalie to yoyehudi, Oli, Ed on 8 Nov 2017.
    • Photo: Yo Yehudi

      Yo Yehudi answered on 8 Nov 2017:

      The green colour probably comes from chlorophyll, a green pigment that’s involved in photosynthesis – the way plants turn the energy from the sun into food. You can read more about it here: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/science/add_ocr_gateway/green_world/leavesrev1.shtml

    • Photo: Oli Wilson

      Oli Wilson answered on 9 Nov 2017:

      Yup, it’s chlorophyll – it absorbs the bits of light that are red or blue so the green reflects back into your eyes.
      Chlorophyll’s always getting damaged because of sunlight so plants have to replace it constantly when they’re growing, but in autumn trees stop making more chlorophyll (it’s too hard to keep their leaves going in winter). Because the green colour fades, you can start seeing the yellow and orange chemicals (called xanthophylls and carotenoids) that are hidden in summer and spring. Some trees also make reddish-purple chemicals (anthocyanins) in their leaves, but you don’t see that in grass – so while grass may look green, it’s also got yellow and orange chemicals in it too 🙂

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