Effects of Green and Blue Light on the Rate of Photosynthesis Lab Report

Effects of Green and Blue Light on the Rate of Photosynthesis - Lab Report Example This essay stresses that since photosynthesis and respiration occur simultaneously, the amount of oxygen generated by the former is cut back by the amount the former consumes. The difference between gross photosynthesis and the amount of oxygen consumed during respiration is referred to as net photosynthesis. This experiment aims to establish the dependence of net photosynthesis on light levels. This paper declares that the first experiment was conducted using the following procedure: Each group cut 10–12 leaf disks from the English Ivy leaves using the paper punch over the weighing paper. This was done to ensure that all the disks are of uniform size. Only those with no tissue damage (jagged edges) were used in the experiment. The next step involved using the syringes to drive out air from the leaf disks. This was done removing the plunger and inserting the disks in the syringe. After this the infiltration solution was added into the syringe up to the 6 ml mark, and the plunger inserted and depressed to remove air. We then covered the tip of the syringe with thumbs and drew the plunger back to create a vacuum for five seconds. The thumb was removed, and the plunger depressed severally until the leaf disks sank. This procedure was repeated to produce four sets of leaf disks for the four replicas of the experiment, hence bringing the sample size to 80. In conducting th e actual experiment, each group added 50 ml of bicarbonate buffer solution into the cylinder and then emptied the infiltration solution and leaf disks from one syringe into the beaker. ... Experiment 1 Materials The materials used in the first experiment were: Leaves (English Ivy) Paper punch Blunt probe Eight 100 ml beakers Bicarbonate solution Infiltration solution 10 ml syringes Cheese cloth Source of light (normal) Stop watches Ruler Calculator Ice bath Blue and green color filters (four of each) Refrigerator Graduate cylinder Weighing paper Method The first experiment was conducted using the following procedure: Each group cut 10–12 leaf disks from the English Ivy leaves using the paper punch over the weighing paper. This was done to ensure that all the disks are of uniform size. Only those with no tissue damage (jagged edges) were used in the experiment. The next step involved using the syringes to drive out air from the leaf disks. This was done removing the plunger and inserting the disks in the syringe. After this the infiltration solution was added into the syringe up to the 6 ml mark, and the plunger inserted and depressed to remove air. We then cover ed the tip of the syringe with thumbs and drew the plunger back to create a vacuum for five seconds. The thumb was removed, and the plunger depressed severally until the leaf disks sank. This procedure was repeated to produce four sets of leaf disks for the four replicas of the experiment, hence bringing the sample size to 80. In conducting the actual experiment, each group added 50 ml of bicarbonate buffer solution into the cylinder and then emptied the infiltration solution and leaf disks from one syringe into the beaker. We then added the rest of the bicarbonate solution into the reaction beaker, discarding leaf disks that did not sink. This was done using 8 beakers, each containing 10