How Light Intensity Effects the Rate of Photosynthesis

Michael Wilson
Introduction
Photosynthesis is a process used by plants to convert light energy into chemical energy and
storing it in the bonds of sugar as fuel for the plant. Plants only need light !"# and H#" to ma$e
sugar. %reen plants use light energy to &oin water and carbon molecules to ma$e glucose. 'he glucose
can then be used by other parts of the plant to create energy or it can be stored as starch to be used later.
How would the intensity of light on the plant effect the rate at which it performed
photosynthesis( It is possible to measure the rate of photosynthesis by monitoring how much !"# the
plant is absorbing. ) lac$ of !"# would mean the plant is performing photosynthesis. )n e*periment
was set up to test the hypothesis that !"# levels will decrease as the light intensity increases because
photosynthesis would use more !"#. In the e*periment a plant was sub&ected to varying levels of
Photosynthetic )ctive Radiation +P)R or intensity of light, and then !"# levels were monitored with a
!"# gas sensor.
Materials and Methods
'his e*periment too$ place in the -iology I lab at the .!) Lewis /cience !enter. We tested
privet plants ta$en from the school campus. 'he privet was placed in a plastic bea$er with a large glass
fishbowl filled with water between it and a spotlight on a rheostat dimmer. 'he rheostat was labeled
with P)R ratings at 01 21 #11 311 and 411. 'he privet was oriented with its leaves facing the
spotlight for ma*imum e*posure. 'he plant was e*posed to each P)R rating for 0 minutes to allow it
time to ad&ust for the light. )fter 0 minutes a !"# gas sensor was placed over the bea$er and results
were gathered using LoggerPro. If water in the fishbowl started to bubble and get to hot it was refilled
with new cooler water. 'he !"# gas sensor was fanned between each interval to allow it to return to
ambient !"# levels.
Results
'he data collected showed steady levels of !"# between 1 P)R and #11 P)R +5igure 6,.
-etween #11 P)R and 411 P)R there was sharp drop in !"# levels. 'here was 0678 decrease in !"#
from #11 P)R to 411 P)R. 'he control +1 P)R, resulted in a !"# concentration of 1.762
ppm9min9gram of leaf. When the plant was e*posed to 01 P)R !"# levels decreased by 048 which
was a difference of 1.#7 ppm9min9gram of leaf. !"# levels actually increased at #11 P)R 2:8 from
the control.

Figure 1. The effect of light intensity on the concentration of CO2 during photosynthesis . The
data shows a slight increase in CO2 levels (difference of .!" pp#$#in$g.leaf% &etween '(R
and " '(R. There is a large drop in CO2 levels (difference of 2.)*) pp#$#in$g.leaf%shown at +
'(R.
Conclusion
'he data did not support our hypothesis that increasing light intensity would decrease !"#
levels. 'he data revealed a plateau between 1 P)R and #11 P)R with the least amount of !"# at 311
P)R and 411 P)R.
We as$ed how light intensity would effect the rate of photosynthesis in plants. Higher light
intensities do increase photosynthesis activity but lower intensities appear to produce similar rates of
photosynthesis. It seemed that the plant needed a certain amount of light before it would start
photosynthesi;ing at higher rates.
/ome errors may have contributed to our results in this e*periment. "ur !"# sensor was
slightly bent and may have suffered internal damage. !"# levels could have varied due to the fact the
humans e*hale !"# and this could have been pic$ed up by our sensor. )lso during our control run
there were still faint sources of light entering the room from the hallway and our monitor was lit and
facing the plant. 'hese errors could have been responsible for the varying ranges between 1 P)R and
#11 P)R. In future e*periments we could better conceal the plant by placing the e*periment inside of a
bo*.
It would be interesting to perform similar e*periments in the future with different plants. We
could compare plants found in arid climates such as cacti to plants such as the privet used in this
e*periment.