An experiment to investigate the effect of light intensity on the rate of photosynthsis

David

Experiment: An experiment to investigate the effect of light intensity on the rate of photosynthsis.

Aim: We will be trying to see if light intensity has an effect on the rate of photosynthsis.

Introduction: Photosynthesis is the process that produces ‘food’ for plants, this ‘food’ is called glucose. The process takes place in the leaves of green plants, this is what the leaves are for. There are four things that are required by the plant before it can carry out photosynthesis, they are light, chlorophyll, carbon dioxide and water . Chlorophyll is the green substance found in chloroplasts and this is why leaves look green. The chlorophyll is very important because it makes the whole process occur. It absorbs the energy from the sunlight and uses it to combine CO2 and water to produce glucose. Oxygen is given off as a by- product. The structure of a leaf is also very important as it is designed to obtain as much CO2 as possible.

There are three features that makes the structure of the leaf unique.

They are very thin and flat to provide a large surface so it can soak up lots of sunlight.
The palisade cells are arranged near the top of the leaf and are full of chloroplasts, essential for photosynthsis.
The guard cells, on the bottom layer, control the amount of gas movement in and out of the leaf.

There is a formula that lets us know ...