ipl-logo

Light Intensity Experiment

1685 Words7 Pages

Introduction
Photosynthesis is one of the most important sections of biology and has always interested me. This process is affected by many aspects which drove me to question if one can identify the effect of high and low light intensity specifically from leaves on any plant. The structure, dimensions and pigments of a leaf should (theoretically) all be indicators of the type of light intensity environment the plant is situated in.
Light intensity is one of the factors affecting the rate of photosynthesis. Other factors are concentration of carbon dioxide, temperature and to a lesser degree, water. Light is a limiting factor when the light intensity is too low to allow the light-dependent reaction to proceed at its maximum rate. Light is not …show more content…

As light intensity is increased further, however, the rate of photosynthesis is eventually limited by some other factor. (Benckiser, 2013) So the rate reaches a maximum. At very high light intensity, chlorophyll may be damaged and the rate drops steeply. This source is reliable as it is a document that focuses on the limiting factors that affect photosynthesis and pertains to this experiment because according to the graph provided, a plant photosynthesises at different rates at different times of the day. According to a school-curriculum based website which supports this source (IGCSE, 2014), a plant is unable to harvest light at high intensities and the chlorophyll system can be damaged by very intense light levels.
The difference between shaded and non-shaded plants and their rate of photosynthesis can be seen in an example of a rubber leaves experiment where the photosynthetic rate of rubber leaves developed in 25% full sunlight was less than one-third that of plants growing in full sunlight. (RODRIGO, 2003) This result can be deemed reliable and valid as it was conducted by three biologists at the University of Wales. This experiment indicates that plants have adapted to survive in shaded conditions and thus should be depicted in its structure and chlorophyll …show more content…

Step 2: Measure the length and width of each leaf for both the non-shaded and shaded plants and record the measurements in a data table. The length must be measured according to maximum vertical vein structure and the widest width of the leaf.
Step 3: Place safety gloves over your hands and secure the face mask on your head.
Step 4: Place 50 ml of isopropyl alcohol into the bottom of a clean empty glass jar using a syringe.
Step 5: Take 10 leaves of the non-shaded plant and use the scissors and the pestle and mortar to crush the leaves as much as possible. It is essential to use the leaves when they are as fresh as possible, do not leave them unattended after the measurements are taken.
Step 6: Place the crushed leaves into the bottom of the glass jar of isopropyl alcohol so that they cover the bottom.
Step 7: Place the lid on the glass jar tightly.
Step 8: Pour hot water into a large bowl and place the glass jar in it.
Step 9: Leave the glass jar in the hot water for an hour and shake the jar gently sideways from time to time to stir the leaves.
Step 10: Prepare chromatography strips by measuring and cutting 13mm x 130mm rectangular

Show More
Related

Observation In Burns Bog And Watershed Park

783 Words | 4 Pages

In Burns Bog and Watershed Park, the light was blocked at certain times because of the cover of the trees. Light intensity affects the rate of photosynthesis as with more sunlight, more carbon dioxide can be produced for the plants to grow. The types of vegetation is affected by light intensity as when the amount of sunlight decreases, the growth decreases as well. This is why SWMA has more grass plants such as, Aster and Colonial Bent Grass. According to the Spearman's Rank Correlation Coefficient, the correlation coefficient of light intensity and Aster is 0.4.

Read More

Nt1310 Unit 1 Assignment

1984 Words | 8 Pages

The most important result from this experiment is that it suggested that the increase of Carbon Dioxide, will drastically increase the growth mountain maple in the covered (from the sun) parts in a forest, in the meantime any increase in the temperature of the soil will nullify the increase of light, as we know is to be the main ingredient for photosynthesis. 5. The authors do not use any citations in the

Read More

Spinach Lab Report

547 Words | 3 Pages

The average CO2 consumption for green light was 0.00773533 ppt/min while all the other colors of light tested are equal to, or exceed 0.01651 ppt CO2 consumed per minute. Graph 1: Amount of CO2 Consumed clearly shows that photosynthesis performed most poorly under green light. Red, blue, and white light each caused more CO2 consumption than green light. Because the pigment in the green, photosynthesising chloroplasts reflects green light, there was little photosynthesis occuring while green light was being shown on spinach leaves. The green light is reflected, rather than absorbed by plants and therefore does not provide the needed sunlight energy to make photosynthesis

Read More

Silver Beet Investigation

1615 Words | 7 Pages

each condition reacted differently to one another based on their temperatures and altered the rate of photosynthesis. Room Temperature did not alter the rate of photosynthesis, this is because it was a normal climate and did not increase or slow down the enzyme reaction within the chloroplast. When the chloroplast was subjected to 80 Degrees, we can assume the protein was broken down, as the active site of the enzyme would become distorted, making the substrate no longer fit, denaturing the enzyme, thus no reaction occurring (Nature, 2012). For this reason we can see why the 37 degrees reaction was slowed. For 0 Degrees the enzyme was slowed but as the initial temperature began to wear off we can see that a reaction began to occur, as the reaction needed heat to occur the light from the lamp provided it with this, so the reaction could

Read More

Daphnia Red Light Lab Report

1248 Words | 5 Pages

The objective of this study was to test the phototactic response of Daphnia when exposed to red (>600 nm) and white light. A 30 x 2 cm clear acrylic mesocosms with a 10 cm counting area was filled with distilled water and 10 Daphnia. We counted the number of Daphnia that traveled to the lit counting area after 10 minutes. There were twice as many Daphnia in the lit counting area for the control (white light) compared to the experimental group (red light). The results showed that red light had a negative effect on the phototaxis of Daphnia.

Read More

Accelerated Biology: Photosynthesis In Greenhouse

405 Words | 2 Pages

Plants need an optimum temperature to have a sufficient photosynthesis rate, but different plants have different optimum temperatures. The enzymes involved in the chemical reaction of photosynthesis are temperature sensitive and can be destroyed at to high of temperatures. At low temperature the enzymes don’t have enough energy so the reaction slows

Read More

BIO 14 Lab Report

663 Words | 3 Pages

The basic set-up for this experimental design consists of two sets of 6 plants (since two groups were combined in order to gather more data). Each set consists of 3 plants that were grown in long-day conditions and the 3 plants in short-day conditions. After the data from Week 1 (used as the comparison/control in this experiment) was collected, the long-day plants were put under lights that would create an extreme long-day condition, while the short-day plants were put under lights that would create an extreme short-day condition. After a week under these conditions, these plants would be removed from these conditions and an analysis of the closing and reopening times for the plants would be conducted in the same fashion the Week 1 Data was collected. In this experiment, in each set of plants, two of the extreme long-day plants and two of the extreme short-day plants would receive the light stimulus (0.3 g), while the last two plants would receive the heavy stimulus (1.0 g).

Read More

Chemical Reactions Lab Report

1029 Words | 5 Pages

Photosynthesis consists of two stages, the light reactions and the dark reactions. The light reactions convert light into energy (ATP and NADHP) Occurs in thylakoid stacks of grana Sunlight is converted into ATP (free energy containing molecule) and NADPH (high energy electron carrying molecule) Chlorophyll absorbs light energy and starts a chain of

Read More

Spinach Leaf Photosynthesis Lab Report

1169 Words | 5 Pages

Because carbon dioxide is absorbed by the plant during photosynthesis less carbon dioxide present in the chamber is a sign that photosynthesis is working. The four lights used for this experiment range across the light spectrum on both sides in order to test a wider variety of wavelengths. All lights will be placed directly on the spinach leaf at the same distance so as not to give any spinach leaf a different light intensity, which could affect the data. This experiment will be able to show which light, ranging across the light spectrum, will allow the Spinach to perform photosynthesis more efficiently.

Read More

Dim Light Lab Report

467 Words | 2 Pages

In the above hypotheses, the research done previous to the lab supported the alternate hypotheses for the colored lights in relation to the dim lights, and the null hypothesis for the experiment in which both sides of the chamber had dim light. The dim light on Side B of the chamber would be favored because, in a previous study, D. Melanogaster were exposed to different illuminations, and “their favorite resting, grooming, and feeding places were determined with an infrared-sensitive camera.” Additionally, the study used infrared beams to collect data on the activity levels of the flies during their most active period of the day under different light intensities. Each of these methods demonstrated D. Melanogaster’s preference for dim light occurring “between 5 and 10 Lux” (Rieger et al.).

Read More

Raisin In The Sun Symbolism

793 Words | 4 Pages

Regarding the circumstances the plant will not grow as they do not have the ‘“sunshine” to do

Read More

Landscaping A Career

1576 Words | 7 Pages

Plants are not all the same in the amount of sunlight they need a day or the shade they should be getting

Read More

Effect Of Light Intensity On The Rate Of Transpiration

1950 Words | 8 Pages

Research Question: How does the presence of light impact the rate of transpiration in plants? Aim: The aim of this experiment was to investigate how the presence of light affects the rate of transpiration in plants. Hypothesis: As light intensity increases, the rate of transpiration (water uptake) in a plant increases.

Read More

Effect Of Light Intensity On Photosynthesis

1022 Words | 5 Pages

Aim To observe the effect of light intensity on the rate of photosynthesis. Hypothesis Light intensity is directly proportional to the rate of photosynthesis. When the light isn’t intense, not many oxygen bubbles will be produced and thus observed. This indicates that the plant will not have enough derived energy from the sun to activate photosynthesis. Whereas, when the light intensity is great, the rate of photosynthesis will be high.

Read More

Evaporation Test Lab Report

657 Words | 3 Pages

Problem: How can you separate beads, iron, salt, and sand into four piles of separate substances? Hypothesis: Materials: Mixture (Beads, Iron, Salt, Sand) Digital Scale 8 Dixie Cups as Containers(a,b,c,d,e,f,g,h) Plastic Wrap 1 short box Clear packing tape

Read More

More about Light Intensity Experiment

Related Topics

Open Document