Photosynthesis Lab Report

Introduction: Photosynthesis is a process to which some autotrophs such as plants produce their own food. It has two stages or reactions light-dependent and light-dependent reactions. The light dependent reactions are the first stage, where energy from sunlight is captures in Photosystem 2 and then 1, the electrons generated in Photosystem 1 then moves along the electron transport chain. The moving of electrons causes a hydrogen ion gradient that is used in the final step to produce ATP, by the ATP Synthase. The equation for this reaction is 6CO2 + 6H2O  C6H12O6+6O2 or, carbon dioxide +water sugars + oxygen . This reaction takes place on the thylakoid membrane of the chloroplast and uses energy from sunlight to produce compounds like ATP and NADPH. The second stage of photosynthesis is the Calvin Cycle, which takes place in the stoma of the chloroplast. This stage is light-independent or it does not need energy from sunlight. During this reaction ATP and NADPH from Stage 1are used to produce high energy sugars. The reaction is 3CO2 + 6NADPH + 5H2O + 9ATP  G3P + 2H+ + 6NADP+ + 9ADP + 8Pi . Additionally, the three limiting factors of photosynthesis are the light intensity, carbon dioxide concentration, and the temperature. Lastly, the items used in this particular experiment were baking soda to provide CO2, a light to excite the electrons in stage 1, distilled
Hypothesis: The closer the light is the plant, and the higher the wattage of the light, the faster the rate of Photosynthesis. So, the 150 watt light bulb at 5centimeters will have the highest rate of photosynthesis.
Results:
Photosynthesis Lab Data
Number of Watts Light 5cm Away Light 10cm Away Light 15cm Away
50 9 bubbles 10 bubbles 15 bubbles
60 14 bubbles 8 bubbles 11 bubbles
65 6 bubbles 5 bubbles 4 bubbles 2 bubbles 3 bubbles 5 bubbles
150 36 bubbles 16 bubbles 5 bubbles 40 bubbles 39 bubbles 43