Does Light Intensity Affect the Rate of Photosynthesis?

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Does Light Intensity Affect the Rate of Photosynthesis?

Background Knowledge

From a previous experiment I have performed I know that if you increase the light intensity on a plant the rate of photosynthesis will increase with it. I also know that light intensity is a limiting factor that affects the rate of photosynthesis. This means that if you increase the amount of carbon dioxide that it receives and also the amount of water the rate will not increase any more until you increase the light intensity. Other limiting factors are temperature and amount of water. When a plant is taken away from light the rate of photosynthesis rapidly decrease. This is because light is a main factor in photosynthesis. It is so important that if the plant is without light for to long it will die.

The formula for photosynthesis is:

Carbon Dioxide + Water + Sunlight = Oxygen + Glucose + Energy. The balanced symbol equation for this is:

6CO2 + 6H2O + Sunlight = C6H12O6 + 6O2

Prediction

I predict that when you increase the light intensity on the plant the rate of photosynthesis will increase. When the level of gas produced levels out then the maximum light intensity has been reached. This means that it will need more carbon dioxide, water or a temperature nearer the optimum for the plant. I also so predict that if you double the light intensity you will double the rate of photosynthesis. This makes sense because you will be providing the plant with twice the amount of light so in theory the rate of photosynthesis will double. A high light intensity will give more light to the chloroplasts and enable them to produce more oxygen (as a waste product) and more glucose for energy. A lower intensity will have the opposite affect. It will mean that the chloroplasts will have less light and not produce more oxygen and glucose. With this information in mind I will say that light intensity is directly proportional to the rate of photosynthesis.

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Preliminary Work

For my preliminary work I need to find suitable values for the value of Sodium Carbonate and for the temperature. I will try several different values for each to find the optimum values. I will be keeping the light intensity the same for all of the experiments.

Preliminary Results

From these results I can say that the optimum temperature for this experiment is 20ºC 

 From these results I can say that the optimum percentage concentration would be 0.2%. This is because the results are contained to a set ...

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