preview

How Does Temperature Affect The Rate Of Photosynthesis

Decent Essays
Open Document

Rate as a term has to do with the time of something therefore how fast the photosynthesis takes place. The amount of glucose produced by the plant is how we measure the rate of photosynthesis. There are three factors that affect Photosynthesis, which are temperature, light intensity and concentration of carbon dioxide. In any situation any three of these factors can be limiting or directly affect the rate of photosynthesis. This is very important for farmers as they use the three limiting factors to increase the rate of photosynthesis to increase the produce of the crop. The factor that is the closest to the minimum value is the limiting factor in the process of photosynthesis. The factor that becomes the limiting factor is the one that is …show more content…

Temperature affects enzymes in a big way. If the temperature is too cold for enzymes they move around much slower to meet the substrate, which makes the reaction much slower. The rate of reaction increases though if the temperature increases. This happens because when the temperature is higher than the enzymes move around much faster and they have a higher chance to collide with the substrate. Enzymes however are proteins and at high temperatures the proteins will break down until they become denatured. The substrate will not be able to fit in the enzymes active site as it becomes distorted and therefore no reaction will occur.

Carbon Dioxide Concentration: The rate of photosynthesis increases as the carbon dioxide increases with it. The rate gradually slows down and at a certain carbon dioxide concentration the rate of photosynthesis remains constant. This is because the rise of carbon dioxide has no effect as light intensity and temperature becomes limiting

Get Access