Title: The relationship between light intensity and the rate of photosynthesis in spinach leaves | StudyHippo.com
Headings: The relationship between light intensity and the rate of photosynthesis in spinach leaves
The relationship between light intensity and the rate of photosynthesis in spinach leaves
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Content: Rate of oxygen production was determined by finding the percentage of leaf disks found floating in aqueous 0.2% NaHCO3 after five minutes under lamplight. Rate of oxygen production increased from 0 to 5300 lux. However, the rate of increase appeared to level off at light intensities greater than 5300 lux. No change in rate of oxygen production was observed between 14400 to 20600 lux (Figure 1).DiscussionThe results of this experiment supported the hypothesis that rate of photosynthesis increased as light intensity increased. Increasing light intensity increased the amount of light energy available for light-dependent reactions to occur. ( textbook) Therefore, the greater the light intensity, the greater the rate of photosynthesis. Above a certain light intensity, though, the rate of photosynthesis remained constant. This occurred because there was a limit to the rate of photosynthesis possible. With limited water, enzymes, and other reagents of photosynthesis, increasing light intensity could eventually no longer increase rate of photosynthesis. The experiment was limited by the large range of light intensities used and the long time intervals at which measurements were taken.