Transpiration Experiments

Aim: To identify and describe factors that affect the rate of transpiration.

RATE OF EVAPORATION
Equipment: 5 pieces of equally sized filter paper
5 Petri dishes
Electronic balances
Small plastic bag
Electric fan
Oven (or heater)
Method:
1. Number the five pieces of filter paper from 1 to 5 then soak in water. Allow any of the
excess water to drain off.
2. Place each filter paper in a petri dish.
3. Weigh each petri dish then record the weights in Table 1 alongside the row with the
corresponding number.
4. Place piece 1 on the bench as a control.
5. Place piece 2 in a small plastic bag that has been sealed then place it beside the first
piece.
6. Place piece 3 in a sunny area indoors.
7. Place piece 4 in an oven at 35C or beside a hot heater.
8. Place piece 5 in front of an electric fan operating at low speed.
9. After 10 minutes, re-weigh all five pieces of paper using the same set of scales.
10. Record the weights of each filter paper in Table 1 and do the final calculations in the
table.
Table 1
Paper number Weight of Weight of Difference (g) Percentage
paper+Petri dish paper+Petri dish W1-W2 change
at start (g) after 10 mins
W1 (g) W2
1 (Room 23.92 23.84 0.08 0.33%
temperature)
2 (Sealed bag) 23.73 23.72 0.01 0.042%
3 (Sunlight) 22.34 22.24 0.10 0.45%
4 (Oven) 22.29 22.17 0.12 0.54%
5 (Fan) 23.88 23.74 0.14 0.59%
Discussion:
Note: The results above are a clear indication of the results between each of the situations
relative to each other, but because the weight of each Petri dish was not removed from each of
the total weights, the final percentage is not the actual percentage of how much water was
evaporated from the paper alone, but rather how much water evaporated from the paper and
Petri dish all together.
1. Under what conditions is evaporation from the pieces of filter paper the most
rapid?
 The highest percentage change was that of the filter paper under the fan.
2. Under what conditions is the rate of evaporation the slowest?
The lowest percentage change was that of the filter paper in the sealed bag.
3. On what type of day would you expect transpiration from a plant that had all of its
stomates open to be the greatest? On what type of day would transpiration be the
lowest?
Transpiration would be greatest in a plant on a day that is hot, sunny and windy. It would
be least on a day that was cold, cloudy and calm (little or no wind).

A MODEL STOMATE
Equipment: two 5cm sections of soft green stems
2% NaCl solutions in 50mL beaker
Distilled water in 50mL beaker
Thread
Scalpel
Method:
1. Cut each 5cm stem in half lengthwise. Place the two strips of each stem back to back so
that the outsides face inwards.
2. Tie the pieces together with thread, as close as possible to each end.
3. Place one of the models in a beaker of salt solution and one in distilled water.
4. After two-three weeks, examine the shape of the model stomates in the two solutions.
Results:
1. Describe the difference between the inside and outside stem of the model stomate.
The inside of the model stomate is stiffer and has a harder surface of epidermal cells
compared to the outside which is more flexible.
Discussion:
1. What has happened to the model stomate in the distilled water?
The model stomate in the distilled water expanded and a gap was visible in between the
two stems that were held together. The guard cells near the stomate become turgid.
2. What has happened to the model stomate in the salt solution?
The model stomate in the salt solution did not have a gap in between the two stems that
were held together and had a rather hard surface. The guard cells near the stomate
become flaccid.
3. In what ways do the models illustrate the action of stomates in times of water
stress and plenty?
This model illustrates the action of a stomate in times of water stress (the salt water),
and times of plenty of water (the plain water) and shows how at times where there is
salt water, the stomate closes up but in plain water, the stomate opens all the way up.
 This shows the process of the guard cells becoming turgid and flaccid therefore
controlling the opening and closing of the stomata. This change of turgidity in the guard
cells (or the epidermal cells of the stems), are brought around by the process of osmosis
(where there is the motion from a lower concentration to a higher concentration) which
is dependent upon the levels and concentration of the potassium ions in the cells. When
there is a low concentration inside the guard cells, with plain water the water will be
drawn into the cell (therefore expanding the stomate) whereas in salt water, water will
be drawn out of the cell (therefore contracting the stomate).
4. What similarity is there between this model and leaf stomate? Is it an efficient
model and are there any limitations?
The similarities between this model and the leaf stomate include the presentation of the
process of osmosis that allows the guard cells/epidermal cells of the stems to become
turgid and allowing the stomate/the area between the stems to open up. This model is
efficient in showing to the student how the stomate opens and closes due to the effects
of osmosis. The model however is only showing the workings of one stomate and is
effective at that, but does not show how there are many stomates on the surface of a
leaf all working together. It is also ineffective in showing the true size of a stomate or
even it comparatively to the other features around it on a real leaf.

LOSS OF WATER FROM LEAVES

Equipment: four leaves of similar size from the same species of plant
Vaseline
String
Scissors
Two retort stands
Method:
1. Suspend a piece of string between two retort stands by tying each end to a stand.
2. Smear a thin layer of Vaseline over both surfaces of leaf 1 and the end of the petiole.
Use a piece of thread to tie it onto the line of string.
3. Smear a thin layer of Vaseline on the upper surface of leaf 2 and the end of the petiole
and attach it to the string.
4. Smear Vaseline on the lower surface of leaf 3 and at the end of the petiole and attach it
to the string.
5. Attach leaf 4 to the string without any Vaseline on its surface, only on the end of the
petiole.
6. Observe the leaves every day for several days, or after two-three weeks.
Results:
1. Draw a table to record the appearance of each leaf.
Location of Vaseline Appearance of Leaf
Both sides Seemed to be well preserved with a nice green
colour
Top side A brown colour and slightly shrivelled up
Bottom side Slightly green and also slightly shrivelled up
None Very dark brown colour and totally shrivelled
up

Discussion:
1. What was the purpose of coating some of the surfaces with Vaseline?
There was one of the leaves which was not coated at all and used as a control to see
what the leaf would normally do. Another two leaves were coated one on the top and one
at the bottom so as to compare the results with the features and parts of the leaf that
are on either side of the leaf. The last was coated on both sides. If there was only two
leaves where one was not coated at all and the other was coated on both sides, it may
not have been possible to pin point covering which part of the leave allowed it to stay
more preserved.
2. Why was one leaf left without Vaseline?
One of the leaves was left without Vaseline as a control which would be used to be able
to compare the effects of having covered the sides to having not covered the sides and
how the leaf would have dried up naturally and unaffected by Vaseline or blocking one of
the specific features/parts of the plant to be blocked.
3. Which leaf appears to have lost the most water? How could you tell?
The leaf that appeared to have lost the most water was the one that was not covered
with the Vaseline which was observed so due to its dark brown colour and shrivelled up
nature compared to the ones with the luscious green colour which were also not
shrivelled up.
4. What can you conclude about the distribution of stomates on these leaves?
According to these results, there are some on both sides of the leaf but it seems to be
that there are more on the bottom. This was deduced since when only the bottom was
covered, it did not disintegrate as much or become as brown as the leave that was not
covered at all, therefore it did have stomates on the bottom, but the leaf with only the
top covered was not as green as that with only the bottom covered, therefore there
should be more stomates on the bottom that the top.

Conclusion:
It was tested to see which of the following factors affected the evaporation of water
from pieces of filter paper: just room temperature, being in a sealed bag, being in sunlight,
being in an oven or near a heater and being near a fan. The situations that evaporated the water
from least to most were the sealed bag, room temperature, sunlight, oven, and fan. This
concludes that the conditions that allow transpiration of water from a leaf from least to most
effective are a sealed room-temperature environment, an open room temperature environment, a
sunlit environment, a hot environment and a windy environment.
 The model of a stomate was created and it clearly presented the process of osmosis and
its effects on the opening and closing of a stomate with the support from guard cells.
It was also discovered that covering all the stomates in a leaf would preserve the leaf
very well since the pathway for transpiration would be blocked allowing all the moisture to
remain within the leaf. There are also more stomates on the bottom side of the leaf than the
top which is reasonable considering that if there more at the top, the sun could evaporate more
of the water in the plant.