Investigating Light and Photosynthesis Essay Example For Students

Investigating Light and Photosynthesis Essay Photosynthesis is the process where a plant converts sunlight into glucose. Glucose is the food for the plant, thus plants create there own food. Plants do this by a chemical reaction. Plants use the sunlight, carbon dioxide and water; plants use a chemical named chlorophyll in photosynthesis. Chlorophyll is used to convert the sunlight into glucose. There are two bi-products of this reaction; they are glucose, which is useful to the plant as it is what the plant lives off, and oxygen, which is not useful to the plant as a result of this it is released into the atmosphere. The word equation of photosynthesis is: Carbon-dioxide + water >sunlight> glucose + oxygen 6CO2 + H2O >sunlight> C6H12O6 + 6O2 From the equation an easy way to measure the rate of photosynthesis is to count the individual oxygen bubbles given off per unit of time e.g. bubbles per minute. Apparatus The apparatus that was used for this experiment was: beaker, boiling tube, pond weed, lamp, water, meter ruler, stop clock scissors. Prediction I predict that the closer the lamp to the boiling tube containing the pond weed and water the faster the rate of photosynthesis, the more bubbles will come from the weed and faster or larger. The plant in the first and second minute may be in a state of warming up therefore the first and second minute s results may be discarded these results are obtrusive. Method Firstly the pond weed has to be prepared for the investigation. To do this the bottom three to four rows of leaves must be removed using scissors. An incision must then be made cutting diagonally at a 45? angle to allow the bubbles to flow more freely from the stem of the plant. The pond weed must be around seven centimeters in length and should also be placed fully submerged in the boiling tube wit the end with the incision in at the top of the boiling tube. The boiling tube should then be submerged in water inside the beaker, this is done in order to make the experiment fair as it makes sure that the outside temperature cannot affect the results, and the radiated heat from the lamp may heat the water thus making the experiment unfair. The next thing that needs to be done is the meter ruler needs to be placed next to the beaker and intervals of five centimeters are marked on. The lamp is then placed at the first five centimeters from the beaker the lamp is then switched on and pointing toward the beaker. The stop clock is started for a minute then stopped, during this minute the amount of bubbles that come out of the stem of the plant are counted and recorded in a results table. After the minute is over the lamp is moved to the next five centimeter mark, it should be the ten cm mark, the stop watch is started for a minute then stopped, and again the bubbles are counted and recorded for that minute. This cycle continues until the lamp reaches the sixth mark. Results- table |Minutes> |1 |2 |3 |4 |5 |Average | |Stagesv | | | | | | | |S1 5cm |15 |19 |26 |25 |23 |21. 6 | | | | | | | |bubbles | |S2 10cm |20 |22 |19 |17 |18 |19.2 | | | | | | | |bubbles | |S315cm |12 |11 |15 |14 |14 |8.8 bubbles| |S4 20cm |12 |8 |5 |7 |12 |8.8 bubbles| |S5 25cm |10 |5 |4 |6 |3 |5.6 bubbles| |S6 30cm |2 |6 |1 |3 |2 |2.8 bubbles| Analysis From the graph it is easy to determine that it agrees with my prediction. The curved line of best fit shows how the photosynthesis rate of production. .u68b95dcfd0d310ddffda3e7ee03e0b03 , .u68b95dcfd0d310ddffda3e7ee03e0b03 .postImageUrl , .u68b95dcfd0d310ddffda3e7ee03e0b03 .centered-text-area { min-height: 80px; position: relative; } .u68b95dcfd0d310ddffda3e7ee03e0b03 , .u68b95dcfd0d310ddffda3e7ee03e0b03:hover , .u68b95dcfd0d310ddffda3e7ee03e0b03:visited , .u68b95dcfd0d310ddffda3e7ee03e0b03:active { border:0!important; } .u68b95dcfd0d310ddffda3e7ee03e0b03 .clearfix:after { content: ""; display: table; clear: both; } .u68b95dcfd0d310ddffda3e7ee03e0b03 { display: block; transition: background-color 250ms; webkit-transition: background-color 250ms; width: 100%; opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #95A5A6; } .u68b95dcfd0d310ddffda3e7ee03e0b03:active , .u68b95dcfd0d310ddffda3e7ee03e0b03:hover { opacity: 1; transition: opacity 250ms; webkit-transition: opacity 250ms; background-color: #2C3E50; } .u68b95dcfd0d310ddffda3e7ee03e0b03 .centered-text-area { width: 100%; position: relative ; } .u68b95dcfd0d310ddffda3e7ee03e0b03 .ctaText { border-bottom: 0 solid #fff; color: #2980B9; font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; margin: 0; padding: 0; text-decoration: underline; } .u68b95dcfd0d310ddffda3e7ee03e0b03 .postTitle { color: #FFFFFF; font-size: 16px; font-weight: 600; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 100%; } .u68b95dcfd0d310ddffda3e7ee03e0b03 .ctaButton { background-color: #7F8C8D!important; color: #2980B9; border: none; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: none; font-size: 14px; font-weight: bold; line-height: 26px; moz-border-radius: 3px; text-align: center; text-decoration: none; text-shadow: none; width: 80px; min-height: 80px; background: url(https://artscolumbia.org/wp-content/plugins/intelly-related-posts/assets/images/simple-arrow.png)no-repeat; position: absolute; right: 0; top: 0; } .u68b95dcfd0d310ddffda3e7ee03e0b03:hover .ctaButton { background-color: #34495E!important; } .u68b95dcfd0d310ddffda3e7ee03e0b03 .centered-text { display: table; height: 80px; padding-left : 18px; top: 0; } .u68b95dcfd0d310ddffda3e7ee03e0b03 .u68b95dcfd0d310ddffda3e7ee03e0b03-content { display: table-cell; margin: 0; padding: 0; padding-right: 108px; position: relative; vertical-align: middle; width: 100%; } .u68b95dcfd0d310ddffda3e7ee03e0b03:after { content: ""; display: block; clear: both; } READ: An oral presentation arguing for the legalisation EssayEvaluation From my graph I can see that the amount of light is not directly proportionate to the rate of photosynthesis, I can say this because the line in the graph is curved and not straight. There are no anomalous results. To take this experiment further I could use color light filters to see if the color of the light affects photosynthesis and the rate of photosynthesis, then record the results and compare them to the results I have already got. .