An Investigation on the Effects of Light Intensity on Photosynthesis

Light intensity is a key component in photosynthesis, amongst carbon dioxide and water to sustain a suitable rate of photosynthesis. Chlorophyll absorbs the light, causing photoexcitation and the formation of NADPH and ATP with production of O2 as a by-product. The Calvin Cycle takes the NADPH and ATP to reduce CO2 into sugars (CH2O), and return NADP+ and ADP + Pi to the light reactions. The process will then repeat. (Reece, et al, 2015)

The green pigment involved in photosynthesis is chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is green in appearance because it absorbs red and blue light, making these colours unable to be seen. It is the reflection of the green light that reaches out eyes, giving chlorophyll a green colour. This green light that can be seen cannot be used by the plant for photosynthesis. Therefore, theoretically growth should be inhibited in the plants only exposed to green light.

Duckweed is a small aquatic plant that is able to grow rapidly, making it the ideal specimen for our experiment. It is hypothesized that altering the amount of light received by duckweed will alter its photosynthetic rate. It is predicted that a lower light intensity will lower the rate of growth in duckweed.

Introduction: Photosynthesis can be defined as a solar powered process that removes atmospheric carbon dioxide and transforms it into oxygen and carbohydrates (Harris-Haller 2014). Photosynthesis can be considered to be the most important biochemical process on Earth because it helps plants to grow its roots, leaves, and fruits, and plants serve as autotrophs which are crucial to the food chain on earth. Several factors determine the process of photosynthesis. Light is one these factors and is the main subject of this experiment. The intensity of light is a property of light that is important for photosynthesis to occur. Brighter light causes more light to touch the surface of the plant which increases the rate of photosynthesis (Speer 1997). This is why there is a tendency of higher rates of photosynthesis in climates with a lot of sunlight than areas that primarily do not get as much sunlight. Light wavelength is also a property of

The purpose of this lab is to observe the effect of white, green, and dark light on a photosynthetic plant using a volumeter and followed by the calculation of the net oxygen production using different wavelengths color of white and green light, and also the calculation of oxygen consumption under a dark environment, and finally the calculation of the gross oxygen production.

The purpose of this experiment was to investigate the effects of light intensity on the rate of photosynthesis in a Moneywort plant. By observing the plant in distilled water mixed with sodium bicarbonate, different light bulbs were targeted onto the plant. The measurement of the amount of bubbles present on the plant during the trial of the experiment enabled us to identify the comparisons between the activity of the light and the process of photosynthesis.

When using algae beads and a CO2 indicator, the process of Photosynthesis and Cellular Respiration can be measured. In this experiment the intensity of light will be altered in each trail, and the rate of Photosynthesis will then be measured. As you rise from low light intensity to higher light intensity, the rate of photosynthesis will increase because there is more light available to drive the reactions of photosynthesis. However, once the light intensity gets high enough, the rate won’t increase anymore since there will be more-light than water and CO2; there will not be enough components from light, water, and CO2 to create the process of Photosynthesis. As CO2 dissolves and the amount of CO2 goes up, the pH will lower, which means the solutions color will change varying form red, orange and yellow, all pending on what the pH is at. CO2 will be produced from respiration, all while photosynthesis absorbs the CO2. This means that when the rate of photosynthesis is less than respiration, pH levels will decrease, and CO2 concentration will increase. Vis versa, when pH levels increase

The rate of photosynthesis may vary with changes that occur in environmental temperature, wavelength of light, and light intensity. Using a photosynthetic organism of your choice, choose only ONE of the three variables (temperature, wavelength of light, or light intensity) and for this variable.

There are many procedures during this lab and many materials needed for an accurate analysis of data. First, fill a 100 mL graduated cylinder with 50 mL of water. Add 25 germinating peas and determine the amount of water that is displaced. Record this volume of the 25 germinating peas, then remove the peas and put those peas on a paper towel. They will be used for the first respirometer. Next, refill the graduated cylinder with 50 mL of water and add 25 non-germinating peas to it. Add glass beads to the graduated cylinder until the volume is the same to that of germinating peas. Remove the beads and peas and put on a paper towel. They will be used in respirometer 2. Now, the graduated cylinder was filled once again, determine how many glass beads will be require to reach the same volume of the germinating peas. Remove the beads and they will be used in respirometer 3. Then repeat the procedures used above to prepare a second set of germinating peas, dry peas and beads, and beads to be used in respirometers 4,5,and 6, the only difference is the temperature of the water.

Place the Elodea in the water, start the stopwatch and measure and record the amount of oxygen bubbles produced by the Elodea over a 5-minute period.

However, the photosynthetic process can be affected by different environmental factors. In the following experiment, we tested the effects that the light intensity, light wavelength and pigment had on photosynthesis. The action spectrum of photosynthesis shows which wavelength of light is the most effective using only one line. The absorption spectrum plots how much light is absorbed at different wavelengths by one or more different pigment types. Organisms have different optimal functional ranges, so it is for our benefit to discover the conditions that this process works best. If the environmental conditions of light intensity, light wavelength and pigment type are changed, then the rate of photosynthesis will increase with average light intensity and under the wavelengths of white light which will correspond to the absorption spectrum of the pigments. The null hypothesis to this would be; if the environmental conditions light intensity, light wavelength and pigment type are changed, then the rate of photosynthesis will decrease with average light intensity and under the white light which will correspond to the absorption spectrum of the pigments.

Photosynthesis is a huge concept to learn and understand in the field of biology. Plants have their own special way of using the ATP they produce. Photosynthesis is a process where plants harness the sunlight they receive and they produce carbohydrates, as well as oxygen for living things and other plants. Now the sunlight ultimately powers the process of

     Photosynthesis has a two-stage performance before plants produce the two products they are known to produce. These stages are Photosystem I and II. Photosystem II is dependant on light reactions for energy which causes the electrons to be react and be transferred to Photosystem II. The electrons are transported through the Photosystem II electron transport system, however some energy is used to drive ATP synthesis. Meanwhile, light is being absorbed by the Photosystem I, which causes the electrons to react. This process sends the electrons to the Photosystem I transport system where some energy is released as electrons travel through the electron transport system and is captured as NADPH. When this process is completed oxygen is released from the plant and glucose has been

Then, each group of students received the necessary materials to complete the experiment. When the students received the cups, they labeled cups to distinguish between the salt solution, distilled water, and control group. After weighing the cups and finding the mass of the cucumbers, the students poured 50 ml of water in one cup, 50 ml of salt solution in the other, and left the control cup empty. Then, the students placed the cucumbers into the cups and waited 30 minutes for the results. After the 30 minutes, the students removed the cucumbers from each solution and dried the cucumbers with paper towels. The students then weighed the cucumbers again and recorded their results. Lastly, the students found the difference from the original mass of the cucumbers and recorded their results.

     In photosynthesis, the dark reactions are chemical reactions that convert carbon dioxide and other compounds into glucose. These reactions unlike light-dependent reactions do not need light to occur. These reactions take the products of the light-dependent reactions and perform further chemical processes on