Lab 9: Transpiration

The Debriefing
Preethi Chidambaram, Gavisha Waidyaratne, Richard Wang
Period 1/2
 The Meaning of Life
• No, actually it’s just the purpose of this lab.
• Basically, we wanted to see how different
environmental factors would affect the rate of
transpiration of a plant as compared to the
control.
 Transpiration…what is it?
• Yes, we know it’s a big word, but be not afraid!
Here are some of the basics.
• Transpiration is the loss of water similar to
evaporation. The difference is that the water
that is lost comes from the plant itself—
usually the leaves. Think of it like sweating—
except not as disgusting.
 MOAR TRANSPIRATION!!
Transpiration occurs
through the
stomata, which are
tiny holes in the leaf
that allow CO2 to go
in and O2 to go out.
When they are
open, H2O can also The stomata are operated by guard
cells, which are the lip-like
leave as water vapor.
structures, that can either open
or close the passageway to the
stomata.
 WHY?!?!?11!!one!!!11!eleven
• Why must a plant, which needs water, go
through transpiration, which would result in
water loss?
• Elementary, my dear Watsons and
Watsonettes! Transpiration causes lowers the
water potential in the leaves. This low water
potential will cause water in the xylem of the
roots and stem to flow up to the leaves. This
provides the leaves with the water necessary
to carry on with its daily activities.
 Water can defy gravity?
• No.
• Instead, let’s use our knowledge acquired previously
from this wonderful class.
• Water will tend to move towards area with lower
water potential. Water potential depends on the
amount of solute and pressure. Lower water
potential means a higher concentration of solutes.
Essentially, this is the water concentration gradient.
• Water also has two very useful properties: Cohesion
and Adhesion. These helpful properties are what
allow the water molecules to move up through the
xylem to get to the leaves.
 You mentioned some words earlier?
• Yes, yes we did.
• Cohesion is the property of water that allows it to be
attracted to other water molecules by the hydrogen
bonds between the hydrogen of on molecule and the
oxygen of another water molecule.
• Adhesion is the property of water that allows it to be
attracted to other molecules that the cells of the xylem
tissue—the tracheids and vessel elements.
• Hydrogen bonding is a weak bond that is formed
between a hydrogen attached to an electronegative
atom and another electronegative atom (usually
Fluorine, Oxygen, or Nitrogen). Remember kids,
hydrogen bonding is FON!
AH! But a picture is
worth a thousand
words!
 Damn edumacated words…
• Root Pressure- The negative pressure in the root
xylem that pushes water a small way up the xylem.
• Guttation- When leaves lose small amounts of
xylem fluid due to root pressure. It looks like, but is
not, dew.
• Casparian Strip- The barrier in the root’s epidermis
that prevents water from entering the xylem
system unless it passes through a cell membrane. It
also prevents water from flowing out of the root.
 What were we testing again?
• Stuff.
• But in all seriousness, we were testing how
certain environmental factors could affect the
plant and its rate of transpiration.
• The dependent variable, the variable that we
are measuring, is the rate of transpiration.
• The dependent variable will be calculated
from the amount of water lost each day.
 MEDIC!!!!!! WE NEED IV!!
• Of course, that’s not the IV we’re talking about.
• We tested three different independent variables
plus one control.
• Control: Room conditions of light and water.
• IV#1: Light—the plant was to be set under a direct
light that was constantly on.
• IV#2: Wind—The plant was subject to a constantly
blowing fan set on a low speed one meter away.
• IV#3: Humidity—The plant was to grow in a plastic
bag. The plants were misted with water and the
bottom of the bag was left open.
 I see…transpiration in you future…
• Control: If the plant is kept at the room levels of light, wind
and humidity, then transpiration will occur.
• Light: If the amount of time in direct light is higher than the
control, then the amount of transpiration will be greater
than the control.
• Wind: If the amount of time in direct wind is higher than
the control, then the amount of transpiration will be
greater than the control.
• Humidity: If the amount of time in humid conditions is
greater than the control, then the amount of transpiration
will be lower than the control.
 How ams I does this?
• On day one, the critical thing was getting your
plant, first of all, and taking the initial mass. Foil
was to be wrapped around the plant container
so only the stems and leaves would be exposed.
Therefore, only the stems and leaves could lose
water. Then, you had to set up your IV.
• Days two through four consisted of taking the
mass of the plants. Nothing more.
• On day five, the final mass was taken and the
lab wrap-up conducted.
 The wrapping of the up.
• Basically, the leaves were to be cut off and
weighed after the excess water was dried off.
• Then, a 1cm2 section was to be cut and massed.
This mass was then used to calculate the leaf
surface are in cm2.
• Leaf Surface Area (cm2) = Total Mass of Leaves (grams)
Grams/cm2
The Biggest Loser…Plant Edition…?
Control
Day 1 2 3 4 7
Mass (g) 35.160 32.770 29.442 25.451 17.665

Wind
Day 1 2 3 4 7
Mass (g) 31.919 27.83 23.98 18.701 11.986

Light #1
Day 1 2 3 6 7
Mass (g) 33.813 30.625 26.055 17.708 16.147
The Biggest Loser…Plant Edition…?
Light #2
Day 1 2 3 4 7
Mass (g) 32.93 30.47 27.56 24.41 15.724

Humidity #1
Day 1 2 3 4 7
Mass (g) 32.163 30.881 29.134 26.034 16.341

Humidity #2
Day 1 2 3 4 7
Mass (g) 31.50 29.99 28.94 27.37 22.09
Some numbers to make us look smart.

Plant 1 Plant 2 Average

Mass of
Leaves (g) 1.327 1.592
Mass of 1cm²
Section 0.023 0.026
(g/cm²)
Leaf Surface 57.7 61.2 59.5
Area (cm²)
 [citation needed]
• So what now? How do we calculate the average
transpiration?
• Well, you have to calculate the difference
between the initial mass (your day 1
measurement) and the mass for each day
following.
• Divide this number by the leaf surface area to
find the Average Transpiration per Surface Area
per Day.
 BOOM. Shit just got real.
Average Transpiration per Surface Area per Day

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3 Day 4

Control 0.04 g/cm² 0.096 0.163 0.207

g/cm² g/cm² g/cm²

Wind 0.069 0.133 0.233 0.27 g/cm²

g/cm² g/cm² g/cm²

0.024 0.047 0.086 0.128

Humidity g/cm² g/cm² g/cm² g/cm²

0.048 0.198
Light 0.11 g/cm² 0.16 g/cm²
g/cm² g/cm²
Some lines to make you think we did stuff.

Average Transpiration per Surface Area per Day

0.3
Average Transpiration per Surface Area (mL/cm²)

0.25

0.2 Control
Wind
Humidit
0.15
y
Light
0.1

0.05

0
1 2 3 4
Days
 Big words + some numbers=…?
• From the data we were able to conclude that:
• Light:  As the amount of time in the light increases,
the amount of transpiration is almost equal to the
control.
• Wind:  As the amount of time in the wind increases,
the amount of transpiration is greater than the
control.
• Humidity:  As the amount of time in more humid
conditions increases, the amount of transpiration is
less than the control.
 Once again…water is magic.
• Transpiration is controlled by water potential.  Water
moves from a high to low water potential.  When the
plant is put in an environment with higher humidity, the
water potential of the air increased and was higher than
that in the leaf, and so less transpiration occurred. Light
did not affect the transpiration, but this could be due to
experimental error. In an environment of higher wind,
the rate of evaporation increases from the leaf, creating
more negative water potential in the leaf.  Water moves
up through the xylem from the roots to the leaves and
this results in even more rapid transpiration. Essentially,
as the water potential of the environment decreases,
transpiration occurs faster.
 Oopsies!
• For the plant with humidity as a variable, groups did not
specifically mist the plant with a certain exact amount of water,
and this could have let to inaccurate results between groups.
• Massing or mathematics errors
• The fan of the ‘wind’ plants could have hit other plants who had
humidity, light, or control as the variable, and affected the
amount of transpiration occurring in them.
• The surface area of the leaves was not accurate for all the plants.
Some may have had a higher surface area than we calculated
and some may have had a lower surface area.
• When the foil was put onto the plant made a difference. If the
foil was not taken into account when taking the initial mass but
was used for all the others, this would have changed the
numbers.
 You have questions?
1. Give a written explanation of the results of
all the treatments as shown in your graph.
Explain how each of the conditions caused a
change in transpiration as compared to the
control (don’t forget to tell what the control
did too).
 We have answers.
• Control: This showed that kept under the room’s conditions,
transpiration did occur and the plant lost mass.
• Light: The time in direct light did not seem to affect the
amount of transpiration much. This could be because the
guard cells sense light, but cannot open the stomata more
than a certain amount. So regardless of how much light there
was, the amount of transpiration was the same.
• Wind: The time in wind drastically increased the amount of
transpiration. This is because the wind lowered the water
potential of the environment and therefore, the water
evaporated faster.
• Humidity: Because of the humid conditions, transpiration
occurred much more slowly. The water potential of the
environment was higher, so the water did not leave the leaves
as fast.
 More Questions??
2. Write a discussion comparing the hypothesis
to the results. Are any of the results suspect?
What were possible problems in the
experiment?
 More Answers!!
• Control: This was as expected, transpiration
occurred.
• Light: The amount of transpiration was not greater
than the control.
• Wind: The amount of transpiration, as expected, was
greater than the control.
• Humidity: As predicted, the amount of transpiration
was less than the control.
• Possible sources of error: massing, math, when foil
was taken into account, surface area of the leaves
 And…
3. What is the adaptive advantage of a plant
having closed stomata when water is short in
supply? What are the disadvantages?
 Well…
• Advantages: The plant doesn’t lose as much
water and is able to conserve the amount that
it does have.
• Disadvantages: The plant is unable to take up
carbon dioxide and is therefore unable to
perform photosynthesis.
 Okay, this is it.
4. Describe several adaptations that enable
plants to reduce water loss from their leaves.
Include both structural and physiological
adaptations.
 Eureka!
• Closing stomata
• CAM plants only open stomata at night.
• Reduced leaves and photosynthesis in the stems
• Life cycles during the rainy seasons in the desert
• Expose less leaf surface
• Inhibit growth of young leaves
• Abscisic acid
 The Real Life: Transpiration
• To take care of house plants it is important to supply the plant
with the appropriate amounts of water and light.  If more
water transpires than is brought in, the plant cells will
undergo plasmolysis and the plant will wilt. 
• Xerophytes are plants that have evolved adaptations that
allow them to survive harsh conditions in terms of light,
water, or wind, and survive without drying out through
transpiration.
• In days of drought with high heat and light, some plants can
rapidly close their stomata to restrict transpiration.
• Plants could be kept in more humid conditions to slow down
transpiration and help to increase plant growth.