Lab Report Plant Pigment
Lab 11- Plant pigment and Photosynthesis Zelda Salfati
December 20th, 2012 BIOL 1012Y
Partners Lab:
Nicole Mintz, Bayla Kronman and Dvora Feinblum
ABSTRACT
This experiment will enable us to separate the pigments of a plant by using the method of paper chromatography. Thanks to this technique the pigments were painted on the strip of paper, and we were able to calculate the distance each of them went up: the Rf value. We saw that carotene went the farther up and that chlorophyll ’a’ stayed next to the bottom part of the paper. Because the pigments have specific characteristic rate of movement they were able to be separated. Another objective of this experiment was to measure the rate of photosynthesis by the use of a spectrophotometer. Indeed we tried to determine if light and healthy pigments were necessary for the occurrence of the photosynthesis. Different tubes were used, some containing healthy chloroplasts, and other containing unhealthy chloroplasts. They were exposed to light or hidden from it, by being wrapped with foil. The results showed that the tube which was exposed to light and containing healthy chloroplasts had the higher rate of photosynthesis.
INTRODUCTION
All living organisms require energy for their metabolic process. The essential source of this energy is the sun. Photosynthetic organisms, including plants, protists and blue green algae, convert light energy into the chemical energy of sugar which can be used as fuel for their metabolism. These organisms are called photoautotrophs since they can create their own food. This is a summary equation for
December 20th, 2012 BIOL 1012Y
Partners Lab:
Nicole Mintz, Bayla Kronman and Dvora Feinblum
ABSTRACT
This experiment will enable us to separate the pigments of a plant by using the method of paper chromatography. Thanks to this technique the pigments were painted on the strip of paper, and we were able to calculate the distance each of them went up: the Rf value. We saw that carotene went the farther up and that chlorophyll ’a’ stayed next to the bottom part of the paper. Because the pigments have specific characteristic rate of movement they were able to be separated. Another objective of this experiment was to measure the rate of photosynthesis by the use of a spectrophotometer. Indeed we tried to determine if light and healthy pigments were necessary for the occurrence of the photosynthesis. Different tubes were used, some containing healthy chloroplasts, and other containing unhealthy chloroplasts. They were exposed to light or hidden from it, by being wrapped with foil. The results showed that the tube which was exposed to light and containing healthy chloroplasts had the higher rate of photosynthesis.
INTRODUCTION
All living organisms require energy for their metabolic process. The essential source of this energy is the sun. Photosynthetic organisms, including plants, protists and blue green algae, convert light energy into the chemical energy of sugar which can be used as fuel for their metabolism. These organisms are called photoautotrophs since they can create their own food. This is a summary equation for