Pho-to-syn-the-sis [foh/tuh/syn/thuh/sis] noun, Biology, Biochemistry The complex process by which carbon dioxide, water, and certain inorganic

salts are converted into carbohydrates by green plants, algae, and certain bacteria, using energy from the sun and chlorophyll.

Background
Light intensity = P/A P power (in watts) A area illuminated by light

A change in the distance of the flashlight indicates a change in the light intensity because it causes a change in the area affected by light.

Real-life Implications
Investigation of how the native geographic location of plants and the time of day affects the rate of photosynthesis
How do these factors affect the rate of photosynthesis in plant cells?

Hypothesis
Given that other reactants of photosynthesis are not limiting factors, the rate of photosynthesis will increase as light intensity increases up to a certain point; then, it will level off as pigments in the chloroplasts become saturated with light. If this is true and the light intensity of the cells light source is varied, then the rate of photosynthesis will increase accordingly to light intensity up to a certain point before leveling off.

The Experiment
3 Ozark Trail 100 Lumens LED Aluminum A 0.4% bicarbonate solution

Distances from the solution surface were 2 cm, 4 cm, 6 cm, 8 cm, and 10 cm Recorded: specific times of when each disk floated in our experiment, averaged between two trials; the graph was based on the ET50

Data
Disk # 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 ET50 2cm 5:40 5:45 6:05 6:40 8:00 9:00 9:20 10:47 11:10 12:07 2cm 5:51 6:30 7:15 7:20 7:40 9:21 9:56 10:01 10:15 10:25 Avg 5:46 6:07 6:40 7:00 7:50 9:10 9:38 10:24 10:42 11:16 7:50 4cm 1:16 1:22 4:33 4:50 5:15 5:49 5:50 5:51 7:16 8:54 4cm 3:35 4:35 6:10 7:40 7:51 8:20 8:41 9:26 10:00 10:30 Avg 2:25 2:56 5:22 6:15 6:33 7:05 7:15 7:38 8:38 9:42 6:33 6cm 4:10 5:11 6:10 6:11 6:43 8:31 8:47 8:59 9:11 10:02 6cm 2:36 4:01 5:41 6:46 6:59 8:54 8:59 9:!2 9:23 10:41 Avg 3:57 4:36 5:56 6:28 6:51 8:43 8:52 9:06 9:17 10:21 6:51

Data (Cont.)
8cm 3:58 6:37 6:41 8cm 4:40 5:01 6:46 Avg 4:17 5:49 6:43 10cm 4:21 4:44 4:54 10cm 3:55 4:47 5:00 Avg 4:08 4:46 4:57

6:48
7:01 7:11 7:20 7:35 8:24 8:56 -

7:10
7:32 8:29 9:10 9:16 10:01 10:12 -

6:59
7:17 7:50 8:15 8:25 9:06 9:34 7:17

5:17
6:50 8:29 9:50 10:57 10:59 12:20 -

5:30
5:45 7:52 9:44 10:33 11:00 12:07 -

5:23
6:18 8:10 9:47 10:45 10:59 12:13 6:18

Plotted Data
Distance (cm) 2cm 4cm 6cm 8cm 10cm ET50 7:50 6:33 6:51 7:17 6:18

Conclusion
Was our hypothesis correct? As indicated by the graph, there were errors and incongruities with our predictions

Experiment was plagued by human errors