11/13/2019 230 - Google Docs

Biol 230.06

1 November 2019

The Radish Experiment Revised

1. I do not think photosynthesis is occurring in A. As seeds, the plants can only

use their internal energy sources to grow and develop whilst producing
chlorophyll to later be found mainly in the leaves. Without chlorophyll, the
plant cannot capture and transform sunlight into the chemical energy it must
use to thrive.
2. I do think photosynthesis is occurring in B; the green leaves must be
abundant with chlorophyll based on color alone. The stems are also very
sturdy which indicates the plant is able to produce glucose and starch via the
calvin cycle using ATP converted by sunlight energy via the light reactions.
3. Photosynthesis is not occurring in C; there is no light energy available to split
the water molecules into individual atoms. Without the light reactions, very
little ATP (available via cellular respiration) is available to create
polysaccharides or any macromolecule that could be indicated by the
integrity of the stems.
4. Yes, cellular respiration is occurring in A. The seeds started at 1.5g and ended
at 1.46g which indicates mass was lost. I know the process of cellular
respiration happens in the mitochondria and uses glucose and oxygen to
create ATP from ADP and releases mass as carbon dioxide and also makes
water. The seeds used up all their starter food but couldn’t create any more.
5. I think cellular respiration is occurring in B because it is able to produce its
own glucose molecules via photosynthesis and also has a metabolism as a
characteristic of life, and thus undergoes cellular respiration.
6. I think cellular respiration is occurring in C based on the mass alone; it
weighed less at 1.20g than it did to start out with at 1.5 g which indicates it
must have lost mass by breaking down glucose and releasing mass as carbon
dioxide molecules.
7. B has a greater mass than C because it has the most energy available to
convert into food for itself to grow. Without light, C cannot split water
molecules to be used in food production to increase in mass like B by creating
sugars and starches and such, and it must lose mass as carbon dioxide
molecules through cellular respiration.

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11/13/2019 230 - Google Docs

8. A only has access to its initial food source and cannot create more food
without leaves containing chlorophyll for photosynthesis, while C was able to
build more cells but also lost mass via cellular respiration and could not add
mass as carbohydrates without light energy.
9. My explanation did change; I didn’t realize the seeds would lose mass via
cellular respiration nor did I grasp the concept that seeds have their own food
before they can make more via photosynthesis.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bKog6UDla12eMLkjgLiFrQoOz7p1tMMljY_7UwW2HRY/edit 12/13