Different colors absorb different wavelengths of light. Usually, the color that one sees is the reflection of the color of that object. Plants are green due to the pigment chlorophyll; consequently, green reflects off of the plant while other colors are absorbed. In class, we wanted to support the fact that photosynthesis is guided by the wavelength of light absorbed. The basis of this experiment is that different wavelengths of light excite photons at different rates. Because of previous knowledge about how distinctive wavelengths of light affect the rate of photosynthesis, we decided to test the rate of photosynthesis when using red light, green light, and white light. We hypothesized that red light would have a faster rate of photosynthesis
Abstract: An experiment was carried out to determine how certain factors such as light intensity and availability of carbon dioxide, affected the rate of photosynthesis. The rate of photosynthesis was measure by the amount of oxygen produce (cm3/min).
A bar graph representing how much photosynthesis three separate Elodea plants were able to perform under three different light treatments, normal, red and green light. The light treatments enhanced certain wavelengths of light which, due to the absorption spectrum of chlorophylls a and b and carotenoid pigments, altered the amount of photosynthesis a plant was able to perform in a certain amount of time. Each Elodea plant was subjected to a different light treatment, one to normal light, another to red and the third to green light while in a test tube of water for a total of two hours. Photosynthetic processes were observed by means of water displacement in the pipette attached to the test tube and were measured in millilitres. The mass of
In the effect of light wavelength experiment, the action spectrum is used to demonstrate the effectiveness of various wavelengths of light on photosynthesis. To observe these effects of the wavelengths the wavelength pigments red, blue, green, white light, and no light are used. In the experiment, spinach leave disks were aspirated in a sodium bicarbonate solution in order to remove all internal gases and make the disks sink to the bottom of a beaker. Each beaker full of 10 spinach disks was placed into a different box with a different colored light source.
To understand pigments and their part in the essential process of photosynthesis, we constructed an experiment to discover first-hand the effectiveness of specific pigments found in pimento leaves. These two exercises would specifically focus on the difference in polarities and the different wavelengths at which each pigment absorbs light. The ultimate source of energy for most organisms is sunlight. This research expresses the importance in understanding the driving force behind crucial photosynthetic organisms that are responsible for converting solar energy into chemical energy and ultimately the fixation of carbon dioxide. The polarity of three of the specific pigments studied, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, and xanthophylls, was determined by separating the plant pigments by paper chromatography and calculating their Rf values. Once the pigments separated along the paper chromatography strip, we cut the different pigments bands and eluted them from the paper into a beaker filled with acetone. We were then able to analyze the wavelengths of light absorbed by the pigments through the use of a spectrophotometer. We predicted the wavelengths for chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, anthocyanidins, xanthophylls, and carotenoids. From the first experiment we were able to determine that xanthophylls, which traveled the farthest of the three, was
Abstract: During photosynthesis plants take light energy and turn it into chemical energy. The purpose of the study was to test the effect of various lighting conditions on the rate of photosynthesis. In this experiment the rate of photosynthesis is measured by timing how long it takes photosynthesis to occur in ten leaf disks that are in a solution of carbon dioxide. The prediction for this experiment was that if a plant receives more light, then it will have a higher rate of photosynthesis. The data supports the hypothesis, because the rate of photosynthesis is higher in direct sunlight than in the shade. This experiment untimely lead to the conclusions that light and carbon dioxide are necessary for photosynthesis to occur.
Plants occur around the world in a wide variety of environments, but how does the environment affect photosynthesis rate? Temperature, light intensity, water supply, and the amount of carbon dioxide are all factors that contribute photosynthesis rate. For the lab on photosynthesis, our group tested the Anacharis Bunch plant, which is an aquatic plant that needs moderate light in order for photosynthesis to occur (“Anacharis (Egeria densa)”). For photosynthesis to take place, energy from the sun is required. When sunlight strikes a plant, the stoma opens and carbon dioxide along with energy from the sun are absorbed into the chlorophyll as well as water which is transported up through the leaves to the chloroplasts where the chlorophyll are located. The chlorophyll then uses carbon dioxide, water, and the sun’s energy to produce to sugars such as glucose. After the glucose is produced, the energy that is stored in the glucose is then used to form ATP, which is carried throughout the plant and into the chloroplast where the energy is used for photosynthesis and other cellular functions. As a byproduct of synthesizing, a plant releases oxygen and water into the air. Then the cycle of photosynthesis which is made up of two parts, the Light Reactions and the Calvin Cycle, start all over again (“A Primer on Photosynthesis”). To figure out the rate at which the Anacharis Bunch plant photosynthesizes under different conditions, my group and I decided to test the
The Four pigments: Carotene, Chlorophyll a, Xanthophyll, and Chlorophyll b are necessary when photosynthesis takes place in the stomata. The aim of this lab was to see how wavelength affected the rate of photosynthesis. My theory was the four pigments would have higher optical density with a shorter wavelength than the longer wavelength. While my null hypothesis was the different wavelengths will have no consequence on the observed levels of the four different pigments.
The chloroplast contains the pigment chlorophyll which traps light energy (Yablonski, 16). Chloroplasts give leaves their green color by the pigments chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotene and xanthophyll found in chlorophyll; the pigments chlorophyll a and b are separated from the other two pigments through chromatography to determine their absorbance levels (Griffith, 438). These pigments absorb and reflect certain wavelength of the visible spectrum which gives the leaf its green color; it absorbs wavelengths which are red and blue but reflect the yellow and green wavelengths of the spectrum making the leaf appear green in color to the human eye (Glover, et al, 505). Therefore the wavelengths which were reflected make up the colour of the leaves (Glover, et al, 505). This chromatographic separation was conducted to extract the different pigment in the chloroplast extract and to separate each of the different components (Quach, et al, 385). The wavelengths which are absorbed by each chlorophyll pigment are different and are based on the visible spectrum. Chlorophyll a obtains most of its energy from the violet blue, reddish orange and a low amount of the green-yellow-orange wavelengths regions of the visible spectrum compared to chlorophyll b which absorbs all the wavelengths not absorbed by chlorophyll a (Shibghatallah, et al, 3). From the results in the lab, it can be seen that the absorbance values determined fluctuate a lot, which resulted in a graph with more than one peak and downfalls. The highest peak determined by this experiment occurred at 660 nm for both chlorophylls. This can be confirmed by Schmid and his team who determined that the wavelength of chlorophyll a occurs between 660-680 nm whereas chlorophyll b absorbs wavelengths between 645-660 nm (Schmid, et al, 30). Thus, we can conclude by saying the spectroscopy helped us determine accurate
We completed three experiments on the topic of photosynthesis. In the first experiment, we tested the "effect of light intensity" by "substituting NADPH with DPIP." DPIP starts out blue and changes to clear as it becomes reduced. Our hypothesis was the more intense the light is the faster photosynthetic process and the faster the rate of absorbency. Our null hypothesis was light has no effect on the rate of photosynthesis. The second experiment tested the effect of different colors, such as red, blue, green, white, and no light. Our
In order to survive, all organisms need to have a source of energy. Photosynthesis is the process by which plants use light energy and simple molecules to make chemical energy. The majority of all living things on earth benefit either directly or indirectly from the ability of photoautotrophs to do photosynthesis. Plants provide oxygen to Earth’s atmosphere and all animals, including humans, depend on plant material for food or to feed the food that they ultimately consume. Photosynthesis takes place inside the chloroplasts of a eukaryotic cell. Many factors affect the rate of photosynthesis in photoautotrophs including temperature, carbon dioxide concentration, the presence of water, and light intensity.
The photosynthesis lab is comprised of three short experiments. These experiments showed how to understand and apply the absorbance spectrum and which colors and wavelengths correspond to visible light. In order to fully understand this absorbance spectrum and how to apply it, we initially prepared a substance comprised of acetone, a large spinach leaf and petroleum ether and measured its absorbance in the spectrophotometer. This showed us what wavelengths corresponded to the most absorption of the spinach leaf. It is understood that the least amount of absorbance should occur after 500 nm and the lower the number, the lower the absorbency. Thus, the 700 ranges is the very least amount of absorbency and the results showed us that the lowest amount of absorbance was around 740nm, which is an accurate, representation of this solution. Next, to understand what wavelengths of light drive the light reactions you can visibly see in photosynthesis, we used CMS in a variety of tubes and measured its absorbency under white light, no light, and colored filters such as red and green. We then used the chlorophyll extract we originally prepared and painted this on a chromatography strip. We measured the band distances to find out the number of pigments in the spinach leaf. These processes helped emphasize how the chloroplast pigment extract and chloroplast membrane suspension have different functional capabilities and how photosynthesis works.
In this lab, varying wavelengths were used to test how light affects photosynthesis and respiration as a whole. The absorbance of lights from 380 nm to 720 nm of chlorophyll pigment from the Elodea sample
The final conclusions of this experiment are that the closer the light source is to a plant, the more light it can absorb, colors farthest from green on the visible light spectrum are most likely to absorb the most light rather than colors closest to green, and only regions containing chlorophyll on a plant can absorb
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.
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