Changes in photosynthetic rate with different wavelengths of light.

Essay by omniromHigh School, 10th gradeA, January 2004

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The rate of photosynthesis varies greatly with changes in wavelengths of light. Light's color is determined by its wavelength of light, and thus it is possible to devise an experiment to determine which wavelengths of light are most productive for photosynthesis than others. The rate of photosynthesis can be measured in several ways, but the easiest and most efficient way to measure the rate of photosynthesis would be through counting the number of air bubbles emerging from the plant's leaves and stems while it is submerged underwater. Thus, the plant must an aquatic plant in order to function effectively underwater, which leads me to the Elodea plant as an optimal choice. Ultimately, different wavelengths of light have significant affects on the rate of photosynthesis, which can be seen through the creation of an experiment that calculates the amount of oxygen produced in different plants at different colors of light.

The scientific experiment that can be used to calculate the rate of photosynthesis in an organism in different wavelengths of light is rudimentary.

Because photosynthesis releases oxygen as a byproduct, an organism releasing more oxygen would thus have photosynthesis occurring at a faster rate. Similarly, different wavelengths of light correlate to different colors, as seen by the spectrograph illustration of light. Thus, with this information in mind, one can devise an experiment to calculate the relative photo synthetic rates of different wavelengths of light on an organism. First, you need to submerge seven equally sized elodea plants completely in different beakers of the same amounts of water. Then, shine one color of light on each beaker using identical lamps, thus exposing one plant to either red, orange, yellow, green, blue, purple, or no light. Expose the plants for five minutes to their individual lights.

Photosynthetic rate can be determined by the...