The Effect of The Concentration Percentage of a Bicarbonate Solution on the Average Rate of Photosynthesis (Et50) (Min) of Spinach Leaf Discs
School Name
Heathwood Hall
Grade Level
11th Grade
Presentation Topic
Botany
Presentation Type
Non-Mentored
Abstract
The purpose of this experiment was to determine if the concentration percentage of a bicarbonate solution affected the rate of photosynthesis in spinach leaf discs. This project was to understand how these concentrations affect plant growth and determine if this method of floating leaf discs would be able to measure the rate of photosynthesis based on the concentrated solutions. The hypothesis of this experiment was that the 1% concentrated solution would affect the rate of photosynthesis the most by increasing the rate of the process. Out of all of the concentration trials, the rate of photosynthesis increased with each increase in percent concentration. The percent was increased by .2% for each trial until the trials ranged from .2% to 1%. Each trial was set in front of a light source (lamp) and the number of leaf discs that floated to the top of each trial in a span of twenty minutes was written down and recorded. The data was then recorded in Google Sheets and the descriptive, as well as the inferential statistics, were found by running a descriptive test and an ANOVA test. The results showed that there was no significant difference in the number of leaf discs that had floated to the top based on the small intervals of concentrated solution change. Therefore, the hypothesis was rejected. Future research could be done by testing a broader range of percentages in the concentrated bicarbonate solution and also by increasing the number of cups per trial to possibly increase significance.
Recommended Citation
Christian, Flinn, "The Effect of The Concentration Percentage of a Bicarbonate Solution on the Average Rate of Photosynthesis (Et50) (Min) of Spinach Leaf Discs" (2017). South Carolina Junior Academy of Science. 19.
https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/scjas/2017/all/19
Start Date
3-25-2017 11:59 PM
Presentation Format
Written Only
Group Project
No
The Effect of The Concentration Percentage of a Bicarbonate Solution on the Average Rate of Photosynthesis (Et50) (Min) of Spinach Leaf Discs
The purpose of this experiment was to determine if the concentration percentage of a bicarbonate solution affected the rate of photosynthesis in spinach leaf discs. This project was to understand how these concentrations affect plant growth and determine if this method of floating leaf discs would be able to measure the rate of photosynthesis based on the concentrated solutions. The hypothesis of this experiment was that the 1% concentrated solution would affect the rate of photosynthesis the most by increasing the rate of the process. Out of all of the concentration trials, the rate of photosynthesis increased with each increase in percent concentration. The percent was increased by .2% for each trial until the trials ranged from .2% to 1%. Each trial was set in front of a light source (lamp) and the number of leaf discs that floated to the top of each trial in a span of twenty minutes was written down and recorded. The data was then recorded in Google Sheets and the descriptive, as well as the inferential statistics, were found by running a descriptive test and an ANOVA test. The results showed that there was no significant difference in the number of leaf discs that had floated to the top based on the small intervals of concentrated solution change. Therefore, the hypothesis was rejected. Future research could be done by testing a broader range of percentages in the concentrated bicarbonate solution and also by increasing the number of cups per trial to possibly increase significance.
