A photon of light strikes a pigment molecule in a light-harvesting complex of PS II, boosting one of its electrons to a higher energy level. As this electron falls back to its ground state, an electron in a nearby pigment molecule is simultaneously raised to an excited state. The process continues, with the energy being relayed to other pigment molecules until it reaches the P680 pair of chlorophyll a molecules in the PS II reaction-center complex. It excites an electron in this pair of chlorophylls to a higher energy state.
