I wonder why…

October 22 2 Comments Category: Thoughts

Click to see photo on Flickr

… leaves turn brown and decompose if you leave them on the ground,
but stay pretty and fresh-looking if you press them in a book?

2 Responses

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  1. Not sure if you’d like an answer to this one, but if you do, the mere fact of pressing a leaf in a book prevents most air molecules from reaching the leaf. Air (or at least oxygen and nitrogen) causes a reaction called chlorophyll catabolism – in simple words, the chlorophyll (what keeps the leaf color true, most of the time) is broken down into a serie of compounds, including sugar.
    And we all know what happens to raw sugar left in the open – it rusts.

    That’s your answer ;)

    Seb Renauld 18 November 2008 at 1:11 pm Permalink
  2. Sweet, thanks! Now I know. :)

    Natasha Lloyd 2 December 2008 at 11:25 am Permalink

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