Biology IA DAVARO

Investigation of the influence of an abiotic factor on breathing

Research question
Study the influence of different concentrations of sulfuric acid on the respiration of phaseolus
vulgaris.

Introduction
Plant respiration is the set of cellular responses. through which the carbohydrates, which are
oxidised to CO2 and H20 with the help of photosynthesis, and the released energy is mostly
converted into ATP. Lipids and proteins can also be oxidised, albeit generally to a lesser
extent than carbohydrates, which are the main respiratory substrates of plants. The energy
gained through breathing, stored in the form of ATP, is that which is used for the growth of
plant and animal organs. the installation, the maintenance of the existing structures, the
maintenance of the existing structures, the transport of metabolites and ions, protein
regeneration and repair processes.

Breathing in plants consists of the exchange of gases between the cells that structure them
and the atmosphere. Plants absorb oxygen from the atmosphere and use carbohydrate
reserves to release carbon dioxide and water into the atmosphere in the form of steam. So
you could say that the inhalation of plants is a process that is "opposite" to that of
photosynthesis: When breathing, the plant absorbs O2 and releases CO2. The common
bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) is the most important grain legume for human consumption. In
2013 around 29 million hectares were planted worldwide, which corresponds to more than
22.8 million tons of dried beans. Asia is the region with the highest production, followed by
America and Africa with 44.8%, 35.1% and 17% respectively. 3% of world production
(Barrera, 2016). There are some poisonous substances in the bean, but this toxicity is only
present when they are raw as cooking destroys their toxic components. Consumption in
certain amounts leads to flatulence due to raffinose. However, this is not toxic at all, although
it can be bothersome. Sulfuric acid (H2SO4) is an oily, colourless and odourless liquid.
Although sulfuric acid is one of the most widely used chemicals today, it was hardly known
before the 16th century. It was made by Johann Van Helmont (around 1600) by destructive
distillation of green vitriol (iron sulphate) and burning sulphur. In Nordhausen, sulfuric acid
was made from green vitriol, but it was expensive. Johann Glauber first used a process for
the synthesis of sulphur with saltpetre (potassium nitrate) in the 17th century (The Columbia
Encyclopaedia, 6th edition) It is very corrosive. In its commercial form it is mostly impure and
its colour is brownish. In addition to attacking many metals, concentrated sulfuric acid is a
strong oxidising agent and can cause ignition (explosion) if it comes into contact with organic
substances and compounds such as nitrates, carbides, chlorates, etc. Because sulfuric acid
is so corrosive, it destroys the bean membranes and impairs photosynthesis.

Hypothesis
sulfuric acid does not attack the bean's membrane, so its photosynthesis is not impaired. My
hypothesis about the influence of sulfuric acid on respiration is that thanks to the power of
this acid the plant will die or it will be very weakened and therefore it will stop absorbing
carbon dioxide and reduce the amount of it in the container.
Materials
- Phaseolus vulgaris
- Pipette
- Box
- CO2 sensor
- Beaker
- Sulfuric acid
- Cotton
- Water

Variables
- Dependent variable: production of carbon dioxide in PPM
- Independent variable: amount of sulfuric acid / water in Ml
- Variables to be controlled: number of beans

Control of the variables

How are these variables (independently and to regulate) controlled and monitored: sulfuric
acid with 0.2Ml, 0.4Ml, 0.6Ml, 0.8Ml, 1.0Ml. This was measured with a pipette.

Data collection method

The relevant data was the vonaborno dioxide, which was extracted thanks to a carbon
dioxide sensor that measures the amount in PPM (Particle Per Million). For each amount of
sulfuric acid, 20 data were recorded, one every 30 seconds for 10 minutes, a total of 5
experiments, i.e. a total of 100 data, plus test 0, which was carried out only with water (1 ml).

Safety and possible sources of error

One of my possible sources of error might have been that when I plugged the holes in the
box that the sensor was put in, it was left uncovered a bit, so carbon dioxide came out and
bad data came out. Another source of error could have been that the addition of sulfuric acid
to the beans did not disperse well and provided only a few biassed and incomplete data.
There may have been errors in taking the amounts of acid with the dropper, but I don't think
I've tried to be as accurate as possible. Gloves, lab coats and masks were used during the
exercise to avoid discomfort. During the experiment there were no problems with ethics, no
animals were used.
 Analysis
Table #1
Raw data of O2ppm at different amounts of sulfuric acid

Data processing
Table #2: Mean , standard deviation, maximum, minimum and rank of CO2 affected by
different amounts of sulfuric acid during 600 seconds.

Data presentation
Description of the results
In the graph you can see that the CO2 in the environment is growing exponentially, this can
lead to several conclusions. The standard deviation is always positive, meaning the data is
always increasing. The range is different in each experiment, so some mean may be
different if all ranges.

Conclusion
In the graph you can see that every time you put sulfuric acid in the seed there is more CO2
in the environment, which I find very rare as sulfuric acid destroys the membranes and kills
the plant so this doesn't happen anymore during the breath could emit CO2. Something I
think could have happened that I used little sulfuric acid when I threw it in the seed, its
effects didn't come immediately and the seed later died, which is reflected in the graph
because if you put 0 .2 ml of sulfuric acid, the maximum point was 552 CO2ppm, meaning
the seed had just died and hadn't removed all of its CO2. On the other hand, by adding
1.0ml of sulfuric acid, there was 716ppm of CO2, so the seed would have been dead longer
and released all of its CO2. My hypothesis was wrong because it says that when the plant
dies, it would stop emitting CO2 and the amount of it would decrease. As you can see in the
graphs, as the amount of sulfuric acid increased, the amount of CO2 went up, although I
believe that if there had been more testing instead of 600 seconds, the level of CO2 in the
environment would have gone down. I think that although my hypothesis was wrong, the
data was very impressive because you could see how severe sulfuric acid is on plant tissue.
This was shown in the tables because the difference between the 0 and 1.0 ml test of
sulfuric acid was very large.

Evaluation
- A flaw in my experiment could have been the way I introduced the sensors, which
made a hole in the box and inserted it, which might have left spaces for the CO2 to
stay. I think this error could have had a lot of impact on the experiment, since these
errors can alter any data.
- Another flaw may have been the way sulfuric acid was added to the seeds as it was
made from a pipette so there could be several seeds that were not watered and had
no effect. This bug couldn't have had that much of an impact because the seeds
were affected, albeit some less than others.
- Another mistake could have been the calibration of the sensors, as this is a
somewhat complicated process and there could have been a small change in the
variables. I don't think it could have been a high impact error as the calibration is a
wide range and if exceeded it wasn't long.
- Another mistake could have been to use only 10 seeds because if you had used
more the data could have been better. I don't think that was very influential because
with the 10 seeds we got good data too.

Improvement
I think there were several aspects that could have been improved, such as better sealing of
the sensor bores, this could have contributed a lot to the accuracy of the data. I could have
taken the data at a longer time as I think 10 minutes is good, but at 20 you could have seen
more sulfuric acid evolution for example. The method I used to pour the sulfuric acid could
have been better too, I heard with a method so that the sulfuric acid was better distributed
over all the seeds. I could have used more seeds to get more accurate data.

Reference:

- “Columbia Encyclopedia.” Infoplease, Infoplease,

https://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia.
- (Pdf) Beans (Phaseolus Spp.) - Model Food Legumes.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/226474316_Beans_Phaseolus_spp_-
_Model_food_legumes.

- WebMD. (n.d.). Phaseolus vulgaris: Overview, uses, side effects, precautions,

interactions, dosing and reviews. WebMD. Retrieved March 15, 2022, from
https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-689/phaseolus-
vulgaris#:~:text=Phaseolus%20vulgaris%20is%20a%20bean,extract%20is%20used
%20as%20medicine.

- Jomura, M., Akashi, Y., Itoh, H., Yuki, R., Sakai, Y., & Maruyama, Y. (n.d.). Biotic
and abiotic factors controlling respiration rates of above- and belowground woody
debris of fagus crenata and Quercus crispula in Japan. PLOS ONE. Retrieved March
15, 2022, from https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?
id=10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0145113