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Experiment #3
Date of Experiment: 1/3/18
This experiment looks at the effects of bicarbonate solution and plain water on leaf disks
as well as their rate of photosynthesis. The disks would form bubbles of oxygen in the leaves
which would cause them to float to the top of the syringes filled with either bicarbonate solution
or plain water. Leaf disks were placed in the two solutions and tested to see which solution the
disks would respond more to and to see how much of an affect the solutions had on the
photosynthesis process. Neither the bicarbonate or the water caused the disks to float up in the
first three minutes of submersion; neither solution also did not cause multiple disks to float to the
top for several minutes. Trial two of the plain water experiment caused the most reaction,
resulting in 8 disks floating to the top of the syringe; I would say that, overall, the water resulted
better than the bicarbonate solution.
The independent variables were the bicarbonate solution and the plain water while the
dependent variables were the leaf disks.
Some potential hazards would include handling the bicarbonate solution; it is not harmful
to the skin, but could be harmful if in contact with the eyes.
Results
Trial 1:
BICARBONATE
Minutes Disks
1 0
2 0
3 0
4 0
5 0
6 0
7 0
8 0
9 0
10 0
11 0
12 2
13 2
14 2
15 2
There were no disks that floated for the first 11 minutes and then every minute a couple
disks would float up at a time; the more time would pass the more disks would bubbles of
oxygen would form in the disks.
Trial 2:
BICARBONATE
Minutes Disks
1 0
2 0
3 0
4 0
5 0
6 0
7 1
8 1
9 2
10 3
11 4
12 4
13 4
14 5
15 6
It did not take as long for the disks to start to float in this trial; the vacuum was more
secure and the process went more smoothly the second time, causing more disks to float as time
went on.
Trail 1:
PLAIN WATER
Minutes Disks
1 0
2 0
3 0
4 1
5 1
6 1
7 1
8 1
9 1
10 3
11 3
12 5
13 7
14 7
15 7
More disks floated in the first trial of the plain water than the bicarbonate first trial; the
disks could more easily form oxygen in the plain water than in the bicarbonate solution created.
Trial 2:
PLAIN WATER
Minutes Disks
1 0
2 0
3 0
4 0
5 2
6 2
7 3
8 4
9 4
10 7
11 7
12 7
13 7
14 7
15 8
Disks floated at around the same time in this trial as they did in trial 1; however, more
disks would float up at a time than in the first trial but then started to settle at the top at around
minute 10 and stayed at the same number of disks.
Analysis
The disks responded better in the plain water rather than the bicarbonate solution in both
the first trial and the second. I believe that the water was better for the leaves for when they were
forming the oxygen bubbles, because the water did not have any carbon to interfere with the
oxygen. The bicarbonate solution seemed to delay the photosynthesis process, making it take
longer for the disks to form their oxygen. While the bicarbonate did delay the floating that
occured, the disks were still able to float and if they had been given more time in the solution, it
most likely would have resulted in just as many disks floating to the top as in the water cup. The
most disks to float to the top occured in the second trial of the water cup; the fact that this was
the second trial was most likely the reason that more floated than in the first because the vacuum
was more secure and the syringe was put together better. This experiment measures how much
oxygen is accumulated in the spongy mesophyll layer of the leaves; the mesophyll layer
accumulated the most oxygen in the water solution.
Background
Citations
How Did Plants Develop Photosynthesis? (2013, March 01). Retrieved January 14, 2018, from
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-did-plants-develop-photosynthesis-21138
044/