Light Color and Photosynthesis Inquiry
Introduction:
Photoautotrophs are organisms that make their own food using sunlight such as plants. They acquire free energy through a process called photosynthesis. Through photosynthesis, sunlight provides the required energy to build carbohydrates from CO2 and H2O. This entire process takes place in the chloroplast which contains chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is the location that absorbs the sunlight and combines carbon dioxide and water in order to make sugar and oxygen. This process is exited through the stromata. In this experiment we want to know which light color will produce the most photosynthesis and the least amount of photosynthesis. This will be answered after we use a blue, white, and red color …show more content…
Cut a fresh Elodea plant and ensure that it is 5cm long. Place the plants into 3 individual test tubes and place those tubes into the wooden test tube holder. With your ruler measure 50cm from the plant to the heat lamp- start with the natural white light. Place the heat sink directly in front of the plant. Once you are completely set up fill each test tube with 0.25% sodium bicarbonate, just enough to completely submerge the plant into the solution. Start timing and count the total number of bubbles that appear after every minute for 5 minutes. Record your results and start over after taping a blue color filter onto the heat lamp. Repeat the experiment. And again after removing the blue color filter and replacing it with a red color filter.
Results:
What we see in this bar graph is that the natural white heat lamp increased by one oxygen bubble with every minute that passed after the first 60seconds because 3 bubbles appeared with-in the first 60seconds. The blue color filter produced 1 bubble that remained for 4 minutes and after 5 minutes there were 4 total bubbles. Lastly, the red color filter produced zero oxygen bubbles for 3minutes and then 1 bubble appeared after 4 minutes leading to a total of 4 bubbles after 5 …show more content…
Based on our results the natural white light increased the rate of photosynthesis the most followed by blue and then red being the least productive in producing photosynthesis. We assume that the reason for these results are because a white light would offer a larger spectrum of colors compared to a blue or red pigment. To go into further detail there are four different photosynthetic pigments that are found in the chloroplast of a plant and these are chlorophyll b- yellow/greenish in color, xanthophyll-yellow colored group of carotenoids, beta-carotene-an orange colored carotenoid, and lastly chlorophyll a- blue/green in color. Chlorophyll a is the main pigment that is in plants and because it reflects in the green light wavelength, blue and red would presumably be absorbed. Based on the data that was collected our hypothesis was validated when the results clearly showed that white light created the more oxygen bubbles and red created the slightest amount of oxygen bubbles- this was the measure of photosynthesis. A few improvements could have ensured gratification if we allow each plant to settle for approximately 5 minutes before we started timing them and continuing the experiment. Or repeat the experiment a few times to confirm the effects. Further research and a wider range of data would be the next step to determine
Introduction:
Photoautotrophs are organisms that make their own food using sunlight such as plants. They acquire free energy through a process called photosynthesis. Through photosynthesis, sunlight provides the required energy to build carbohydrates from CO2 and H2O. This entire process takes place in the chloroplast which contains chlorophyll. Chlorophyll is the location that absorbs the sunlight and combines carbon dioxide and water in order to make sugar and oxygen. This process is exited through the stromata. In this experiment we want to know which light color will produce the most photosynthesis and the least amount of photosynthesis. This will be answered after we use a blue, white, and red color …show more content…
Cut a fresh Elodea plant and ensure that it is 5cm long. Place the plants into 3 individual test tubes and place those tubes into the wooden test tube holder. With your ruler measure 50cm from the plant to the heat lamp- start with the natural white light. Place the heat sink directly in front of the plant. Once you are completely set up fill each test tube with 0.25% sodium bicarbonate, just enough to completely submerge the plant into the solution. Start timing and count the total number of bubbles that appear after every minute for 5 minutes. Record your results and start over after taping a blue color filter onto the heat lamp. Repeat the experiment. And again after removing the blue color filter and replacing it with a red color filter.
Results:
What we see in this bar graph is that the natural white heat lamp increased by one oxygen bubble with every minute that passed after the first 60seconds because 3 bubbles appeared with-in the first 60seconds. The blue color filter produced 1 bubble that remained for 4 minutes and after 5 minutes there were 4 total bubbles. Lastly, the red color filter produced zero oxygen bubbles for 3minutes and then 1 bubble appeared after 4 minutes leading to a total of 4 bubbles after 5 …show more content…
Based on our results the natural white light increased the rate of photosynthesis the most followed by blue and then red being the least productive in producing photosynthesis. We assume that the reason for these results are because a white light would offer a larger spectrum of colors compared to a blue or red pigment. To go into further detail there are four different photosynthetic pigments that are found in the chloroplast of a plant and these are chlorophyll b- yellow/greenish in color, xanthophyll-yellow colored group of carotenoids, beta-carotene-an orange colored carotenoid, and lastly chlorophyll a- blue/green in color. Chlorophyll a is the main pigment that is in plants and because it reflects in the green light wavelength, blue and red would presumably be absorbed. Based on the data that was collected our hypothesis was validated when the results clearly showed that white light created the more oxygen bubbles and red created the slightest amount of oxygen bubbles- this was the measure of photosynthesis. A few improvements could have ensured gratification if we allow each plant to settle for approximately 5 minutes before we started timing them and continuing the experiment. Or repeat the experiment a few times to confirm the effects. Further research and a wider range of data would be the next step to determine