Positive Effects Of Ascorbic Acid On Radish Seed Germination

The original hypothesis, “If ascorbic acid has positive effects on radish seed germination, then radish seeds germinated with ascorbic acid concentrations of 0, 100, 300, and 500 parts per million (ppm) solutions will exhibit longer seed radicles (measured in millimeters) than control seeds germinated in distilled water alone” was incompletely supported. For example, Graph 1 shows the Control trial achieved the greatest average length (31.5 mm) by the end of the experiment in comparison to all other trials. However, Table 1 shows the second greatest average length at the end of the experiment occurred for Trial 2, with 300 ppm. The average length achieved was 28.5 mm. It was predicted that the greatest average length would occur for Trial 3 with 500 ppm (24 mm), but this was not the case. The reason for this deviation was that the 500 ppm solution was to acidic for the Raphanus raphanistrum (1). In Trial 3, the concentration of the ascorbic acid was too high, and therefore created a toxic environment in which the seeds could not germinate as well as the Control Trial, Trial 1, and Trial 2. …show more content…
The modified hypothesis is, “If ascorbic acid has positive effects on radish seed germination, then Raphanus raphanistrum germinated with the lowest concentration (0 ppm) will achieve the maximum radicle length, followed by the second highest concentration (300 ppm) due to the beneficial effects of ascorbic acid for seed