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Bio Lab #3

1. The experiment investigated the effect of light intensity on the rate of photosynthesis by measuring the time taken for leaf discs to float in a sodium bicarbonate solution under different light intensities. 2. The results showed that decreasing the light intensity by increasing the distance between the lamp and leaf discs resulted in an increase in the time taken for the leaf discs to float. 3. This indicates that the rate of photosynthesis decreases with lower light intensities, since less light means less oxygen production through photosynthesis.

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23 views

Bio Lab #3

1. The experiment investigated the effect of light intensity on the rate of photosynthesis by measuring the time taken for leaf discs to float in a sodium bicarbonate solution under different light intensities. 2. The results showed that decreasing the light intensity by increasing the distance between the lamp and leaf discs resulted in an increase in the time taken for the leaf discs to float. 3. This indicates that the rate of photosynthesis decreases with lower light intensities, since less light means less oxygen production through photosynthesis.

Uploaded by

Emma
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lab #3

Date: 15/10/2021

Title: Photosynthesis

Aim: To investigate the effect of light intensity on the rate of photosynthesis

Apparatus and Material:

Distilled water, dish soap, leaf discs, sodium bicarbonate(baking soda), measuring
cylinder, beaker, spatula, paper punch, syringe, lamp, stopwatch, petri dish.

Diagram:

Diagram showing the setup of apparatus used during experiment.


Procedure:

1. Using a measuring cylinder, 60ml of distilled water was measured and


poured into small beaker.
2. 3 spatulas of dish soap was added to the beaker and the mixture was
thoroughly stirred.
3. Using a paper punch, 5 identical leaf discs were created and placed into a
petri dish.
4. The plunger was then removed from the syringe and 5 leaf discs were gently
placed into the syringe. The plunger was replaced into syringe and 1ml of
solution from beaker was pulled into syringe.
5. The air from syringe was then removed by covering the tip of syringe with
an index finger and pulling on the plunger.
6. 3g of sodium bicarbonate was weighed and added to mixture in beaker.
7. Leaf discs with no air was placed into sodium bicarbonate solution and was
placed under a lit lamp which was placed 0.1m above the beaker.
8. The stopwatch was started and the time it took for the 5 leaf discs to float to
the surface of solution was recorded.
9. Step 11 was repeated for the following distances: 0.2m, 0.3m, 0.4m and
0.5m.
10.The light intensities for each was calculated using the formula 1/d2
11. The results obtained, were recorded in a table and a graph of time against
light intensity was plotted.
Results:

Table: Table showing the time taken for five leaf discs to float at varying light
intensities.

Graph: Graph showing the time taken for five leaf discs to float against
varying light intensities
Discussion:

Photosynthesis is the process used by plants and algae to harness light energy from
the sun and convert it into chemical energy. This natural process produces organic
material like glucose, from inorganic processes like water and carbon dioxide.

The chemical equation for this reaction is shown below:

6CO2 + 6H2O + energy → C6H12O6 + 6O2


In photosynthesis there are many limiting factors, i.e, factors which limits the rate
at which the process occurs. These limiting factors include carbon dioxide
concentration, temperature and light intensity. In this experiment, the limiting
factor of light intensity was studied and analysed. When there is little or no light
being absorbed by the chlorophyll inside the leaf of the plant, the rate of
photosynthesis is very low and inversely, if there is a lot of light being absorbed
the rate of photosynthesis is very high.

In this experiment, leaf disc samples were placed under a light source in a beaker
filled with sodium bicarbonate, at varying distances to determine the effect of light
intensity on the process of photosynthesis. The rate at which photosynthesis
occurred within the leaf discs, was measured by the time taken for the disc to float
to the top of sodium bicarbonate solution. Oxygen is a bi product of photosynthesis
and hence, more the oxygen the leaf contains, the faster it will float to the top,
indicating that there is a high rate at which photosynthesis is occurring.

From the table above, it can be seen that locating the leaf discs at a distance of
0.1m away from the lamp, the light intensity was 100m-2, at 0.2m the light
intensity was 25 m-2, at 0.3m the light intensity was 11 m-2, at 0.4m the light
intensity was 6 m-2, and finally, at 0.5m the light intensity was 4 m-2. These results
indicate that the further away the leaf discs are from the light source, the lower the
light intensity. The decrease in light intensity showed an increase in the time taken
for all 5 leaf discs to float to the top of the solution. This is because, with a smaller
amount of light, photosynthesis occurs at a much slower rate and oxygen is not
being produced very quickly. Those leaf discs further away receive less light,
causing the time taken to be longer and hence, the rate of photosynthesis is low. As
seen in the graph above, the light intensity is directly proportional to the time taken
for photosynthesis to occur. Hence, light is vital for the process of photosynthesis.
Precautions:

1. Leaf discs were all obtained from same leaf in order to keep an identical
amount of chlorophyll content which ensures most accurate results.
2. A paper puncher was used to obtain all leaf discs to keep the size constant
to ensure the most accurate results.
3. Dish soap was made into solution and placed in a syringe with leaf discs to
break down the lipids present in waxy cuticle, making gaseous exchange
much easier.

Limitations:

1. Different sources of light (ambient light) which leaf discs may have been
exposed to in experimental environment, can affect the rate at which
photosynthesis occurred.

Sources of Error:

1. The leaf used in experiment, was unevenly pigmented with green, this
indicates that there is an uneven amount of chlorophyll, hence the amount of
light absorbed by each leaf disc would have differred.

Conclusion: In conclusion, as there is a decrease in light intensity, the time taken


for photosynthesis to occur increases, hence, the rate of photosynthesis is lower.

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