*** This hypothesis was later confirmed by Samuel Ruben and Martin Kamen, who utilized

radioisotopes to trace the flow of oxygen in plants. Specifically, they allowed two groups of
plants to undergo photosynthesis. The first group of plants was given radioactively-labeled
water and unlabeled carbon dioxide. By comparison, the second group of plants was given
radioactively-labeled carbon dioxide and unlabeled water.Results showed that the oxygen
released from the first group of plants was radioactive, confirming that water is the source
of the oxygen produced by photosynthesis. While seemingly simple, later studies went on
to demonstrate that photosynthesis is acombination of two separate processes, each
involving multiple steps.
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Experiment designed by Samuel Ruben and Martin Kamen (1941)

To determine which of these original compounds contribute to the O2 end product,

an isotopic tracer experiment can be performed using 18O:
H218O + CO2 yields 18O2
H2O+C1802 yields O2

Experiment 1: Showed that the oxygen from plants was labeled with the radioactive
tracer oxygen-18 only if water was the source of the tracer
Experiment 2: When oxygen-18 was introduced into the plant in the form of carbon
dioxide, the tracer did not show in the released oxygen
Therefore, these experiments confirmed that water is the source of oxygen in
photosynthesis, and not carbon dioxide.

http://www-plb.ucdavis.edu/courses/bis/2A/bis2a-F10/PhotosyntheticO2.pdf

Animation link: http://bcs.whfreeman.com/thelifewire/content/chp08/0802001.html

An experiment designed by Samuel Ruben and Martin Kamen (1941)

Aim: to