Name: Lauren Dattilo

Class: AP Biology

Teacher: Mrs. Schulte

Experiment #: 3

Date of Experiment: 1/3

Title: The effect of sodium bicarbonate solution on the rate of photosynthesis.

 Abstract

Photosynthesis is a process in which organisms take in water, carbon dioxide, and light to

produce energy in the form of a carbohydrate as well as oxygen. In order to measure the rate of

photosynthesis, you would either have to track the production of O2(oxygen) or the consumption

of CO2 (carbon dioxide).

In this lab, we used a system to measure the accumulation of oxygen. Due to the

mesophyll layer of leaves being infused with O2 and CO2 normally, leaves normally sink in

water. However if u place the leaves in a solution, the air spaces of the leaf with be obstructed

and the leaf will sink. In this lab the solution we used was bicarbonate supplying the leaves with

a carbon source and therefore allowing photosynthesis to occur.

In this lab we will test the theory of using the bicarbonate and well as compare the rate it

takes the leafs to float to if we used just water.

Materials and Equipment Used

● Sodium bicarbonate (Baking Soda)

● Liquid Soap

● Plastic syringe (10 cc or larger)

● Leaf material

● Hole punch

● Plastic cups

● Timer

● Light source

Procedure and Methods

1. Prepare 300 ml of bicarbonate solution for each trial.

● The bicarbonate serves as an alternate dissolved source of carbon dioxide for

photosynthesis. Prepare a 0.2% solution. (This is not very much… it is only about

3g of a teaspoon of baking soda in 300 ml of water.)

● Add 1 drop of dilute liquid soap to this solution. The soap wets the hydrophobic

surface of a leaf allowing the solution to be drawn into the leaf. It’s difficult to

quantify this since liquid soaps vary in concentration. Avoid suds. If your solution

generates suds then dilute it with more bicarbonate solution.

2. Cut 10 uniform leaf disks for each trial using a hole puncher

3. Infiltrate the leaf disks with sodium bicarbonate solution.

● Remove the piston or plunger and place the leaf disks into the syringe barrel.

Replace the plunger being careful not to crush the leaf disks. Push on the plunger

until only a small volume of air and leaf disk remain in the barrel (<10%).

● Pull a small volume of sodium bicarbonate solution into the syringe. Tap the

syringe to suspend the leaf disks in the solution.

● Holding a finger over the syringe-opening, draw back on the plunger to create a

vacuum. Hold this vacuum for 10 seconds. While holding the vacuum, swirl the

leaf disks to suspend them in the solution. Let off the vacuum. The bicarbonate

solution will infiltrate the air spaces in the leaf causing the disks to sink. You will

probably have to repeat the procedure 2-3 times in order to get the disks to sink.
 ■ If you have difficulty getting your disks to sink after about 3 evacuations,

it is usually because there is not enough soap in the solution. Add a few

more drops of soap.

● Pour the disks and solution into a clear plastic cup labeled “with CO2”/

● For a control infiltrate leaf disks with a solution of only water with a drop of

soap--no bicarbonate. Follow the same steps above and pour the disks into a clear

plastic cup labeled “without CO2”.

● Place both cups under the light source at the same time and start the timer. At the

end of each minute, record the number of floating disks, Then swirl the disks to

dislodge any that are stuck against the sides of the cups. Continue until all of the

disks are floating in the cup with the bicarbonate solution.

Results

BICARBONATE PLAIN WATER

Minutes Disks Minutes Disks

1 0 1 10

2 0 2 10

3 0 3 10

4 0 4 10

5 0 5 10

6 0 6 10

7 0 7 10
 8 0 8 10

9 0 9 10

10 0 10 10

11 0 11 10

12 0 12 10

13 0 13 10

14 0 14 10

15 1 15 10

16 2 16 10

17 4 17 10
This shows that with the introduction of bicarbonate solution, photosynthesis can still occur. This

graph also shows an error in our experiment due to the fact that water the leaves never officially

sunk and all 10 remained floating in the first 10 minutes.

Analysis/Conclusion

In conclusion, the use of bicarbonate is a good source of carbon dioxide for

photosynthesis. When comparing the disks infiltrated with water and bicarbonate the disks

infiltrated with water rose at a quicker pace due to error. Instead of putting the leaf disks in a

plunger and infiltrating them with water, we simply just placed them in a beaker with water a

stirred them. This caused the disks to rise quickly because gas was still found in the mesophyll

layer. Upon looking at other groups data, if the lab would have been conducted correctly, the

water disks would not have risen at all in the 17 minutes. This is due to the idea that there is no

source of carbon at all in the leaves.

 To further investigate this theory first of all we would need to fully infiltrate the leaves

with water to give the proper results for the experiment. In another investigation you could test

whether placing the beakers in an environment with light as well as placing another beaker not in

direct sunlight and test to see if the rate of photosynthesis increases or decreases. You can also

test the fact if a natural light source vs the artificial light source we used in this lab. The intensity

of the light could also be an interesting factor to study. In this experiment we also used spinach

leaves so possibly changing the species of the leaves may lead to a different solution if the leaves

were a wild plant instead of grown for the purpose of food.

Background Research

Photosynthesis is a process used by autotrophic organisms to produce energy in the form

of carbohydrates. During photosynthesis, water, carbon dioxide, and light is taken in by the

organisms and a carbohydrate as well as oxygen is produced.

Leaves have a mesophyll layer which is typically infused with gases such as oxygen

and carbon dioxide. This allows for the flotation of leaves when placed in water.

Bibliography

https://youtu.be/ZnY9_wMZZWI