Summative Photosynthesis Lab Problem: How does the color of light (blue, red) affect the rate of photosynthesis

in Elodea at a distance of 5cm from the plant? Hypothesis: If the color of light changes from red to blue then the rate of photosynthesis will increase by 25%. Theory: Photosynthesis is the process in which carbon dioxide, water, and sunlight is absorbed by the plant to produce energy. The energy is used to produce oxygen and glucose. The reactants of photosynthesis are CO2 and H2O. For blue light the wavelengths measured in nanometers is 475nm. For red light it is about 650nm. Because blue is not reflected off of chlorophyll like the color green blue absorbed more than red. Even though the absorption rate is higher the action rate with red light is higher. In 2012 the average percentage of oxygen produced with red light was 30%. PROCEDURE FOR COLOR OF LIGHT 1. Measure and cut at an angle elodea 7 to 9 cm. 2. Remove a few leaves from end of stem and slightly crush end of stem. 3. Measure mass in grams and record. 4. Put elodea stem side up in a test tube. 5. Fill test tube with spring water and baking soda solution (1 tsp. to 100 mL of water). 6. Put tube in rack and adjust lamp with blue light 5 cm from top of test tube. 7. Turn on lamp and wait 1 minute. 8. After 1 minute, begin counting small, medium and large bubbles for 3 minutes. Record data. 9. Repeat with red light. 10. Repeat for Trial 2 DATA/OBSERVATIONS: Trial 1) 1.1grams
Small x 1 Color Blue Red 7x1=7 8x1=8 1x2=2 2x3=6

Oxygen Produced in 3 minutes at 5 and 10 cm

Medium x 2 Large x 3 Total 7 16

Notes: Trial 2) 0.7grams

Small x 1 Color Blue Red 33x1=33 19x1=19

Oxygen Produced in 3 minutes at 5 and 10 cm

Medium x 2 4x2=8 1x2=2 Large x 3 1x3=3 Total 44 21

Trial 1 Trial 2 Total/2 Average

blue 7 44 51 25.5

red 16 21 37 18.5

2013 AVERAGE DATA IN 3 MINUTES FROM 6 DIFFERENT CLASSES COLOR OF LIGHT

BLUE CLASS PERIOD AVERAGES 1 2 3 4 6 7 TOTAL/6 AVERAGE RED % Oxygen Decrease/Increase

58.5 63.5 39 112 102 68.5 443.5/6 73.9

70 19 24.3 85.8 45 50.8 294.9/6 49.2

16% increase 70% decrease 37% decrease 23% decrease 56% decrease 26% decrease 34% decrease

Average Oxygen Production Data

Average amount of Oxygen Produced in 3 minutes 80 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Group 1 Period 3 All Classes 25.5 18.5 39 24.3 49.2 Blue Light Red Light 73.9

Conclusion: The color of light of the visible light spectrum does in fact change the amount of oxygen produced in the process of photosynthesis. To find out how much oxygen was produced we measured how many bubbles came out of the stem of an Elodea plant while under a blue light of a red light. According to the data of all of the classes there was a 34% decrease of oxygen produced from blue light to red light. According to my groups data there was a decrease of oxygen produced as well by 27.4%. In our group the average of total amount of bubbles that were made under the blue light was 25.5 bubbles. The average of the total amount for the red light was 18.5. This shows that during photosynthesis blue light produces more oxygen than red light. In my hypothesis I said that if the color of light changes from red to blue than the rate of oxygen produced would increase by 25%. But the data shows that the rate of photosynthesis increased by a 34% increase. My original hypothesis was correct. Analysis: Some discrepancies about the data from this lab is that some groups got more oxygen produced with red light and some got more oxygen produced with blue lights. Such as 1st period when they got a 16% increase when they used red light than blue light. The inconsistencies might have happen because the amount of light shined on the Elodea plants was not as controlled. The brightness of the light might have changed during the lab to change the data. Or maybe the amount of CO2 was different for each tube. To improve the reliability of the lab I would have a controlled amount of baking soda in each tube and have the lights closer than it was.