PHOTOSYNTHESIS

Definition: A process in which green plants sunthesise carbohydrates

from raw materials using energy from light is known as photosynthesis.

Word equation:

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Carbon dioxide + water light and chlorophyll glucose + oxygen

Chemical equation:

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This is the chemical equation for photosynthesis:

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6CO2 + 6H2O light and chlorophyll C6H12O6 + 6O2

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Board question::

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Marking Scheme says:

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Also it is mandatory to :
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• Write the correct formula for each of the reactants and products
• Balance the equation correctly
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• Write the chemical equation for photosynthesis and not the word
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equation if a chemical equation has been asked .A word equation shall

be ignored the board
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During photosynthesis the energy from light becomes converted into
chemical bond energy in the simple sugars. This provides energy for the
plant and also for other organisms that feed on plants directly or indirectly.
The equation shows that oxygen is produced as a by-product. The plant
may use oxygen in its own respiration or it may diffuse out into the
atmosphere where it is used by other organisms.

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Photosynthesis is not a simple reaction as suggested by the equation. There
are many chemical reactions that take place in chloroplasts to from simple
sugars and oxygen. Each reaction is catalysed by an enzyme.

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 Importance of the products of photosynthesis
The 2 products of photosynthesis are simple sugar ( glucose )and oxygen.

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Oxygen is a by-product of photosynthesis

Oxygen is a product of photosynthesis. It is not the main product. Some is

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used by the plant’s respiration, but usually there is more than needed so
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most diffuses out of the leaves into the atmosphere. That is way it is called a
by-product.
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 Mineral requirements

• Plants need more than light, carbon dioxide and water for healthy
growth.

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• They also need mineral salts (also called plant nutrients).
• Nutrients are absorbed from the soil in small quantities as ions by
active transport in the roots.

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Plant nutrients

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Nutrients are needed for healthy growth and plants. They are used for a
variety of purpose in plants. If these nutrients are lacking in the soil then

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plants do not grow well and show certain symptoms known as deficiency
symptoms.

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Nitrate ions:

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Use: Plants need nitrate ions to make amino acids which are used to makes
proteins. As proteins are required for growth.
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Effects of deficiency: Plants deficient in nitrate show poor growth
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Magnesium ions:
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Use:These are absorbed by plants and used to make chlorophyll.

Effects of deficiency: Leaves of plants deficient in chlorophyll look yellow,
a condition known as chlorosis.
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Investigating photosynthesis

Green plants need the following in order to carry out photosynthesis:

• Light – which provide energy for the process
• Chlorophyll – It is a green pigment found in chloroplasts and it
transfers energy from light into energy in chemicals for the
synthesisis of carbohydrates.

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• Carbon dioxide – Which diffuses into the leaves from the air

• Water – which is absorbed by the plant’s roots from the soil.

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Water and carbon dioxide are called as the raw materials for

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photosynthesis.If the plant carries out photosynthesis it will make simple
sugars and store them as starch. If it cannot photosynthesis then it will not
make starch.

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Why do we de-starch a plant?

To be certain that the investigation is valid. We must make sure that the
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leaves have no starch at the start. To do this a plant is left in the dark for at
least 48 hours. This is called de-starching. The plant is then given all the
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things that it needs except for the substance that we are testing.
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Testing a leaf for starch

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• Submerge a leaf in boiling water for one minute. This kills the leaf as it
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destroys membranes, making it easier to extract the chlorophyll.

• At this point, turn off any Bunsen burners used to boil the water.
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• Put the leaf into a test-tube in a beaker of hot water for about 10
minutes.
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• Wash the leaf in cold water to remove the ethanol and rehydrates the
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leaf .The leaf now softens and can be easyly spread on a white tile
• No put some drops of iodine solution on it.
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• If the leaf goes blue-black, starch is present. If it stays red/brown

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there is no starch.

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EXPERIMENT 1:

To show that chlorophyll is needed for photosynthesis

• Take a de-starched, variegated plant.

(‘Variegated’ means some parts of the leaves are white because there

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is no chlorophyll there)
• Place the plant in sunlight for about 6 hours.
• Draw one leaf to show the white and green parts.

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• Now test this variegated leaf for starch using the starch test described.

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• You should find that only the green parts of the leaf go blue-black.
• The green parts contain chlorophyll which is needed for photosynthesis
to make starch.

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• The white parts contain no chlorophyll, so no photosynthesis occurs
here.

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• Therefore the white parts of the leaf give a negative result with the
starch test.
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EXPERIMENT 2:
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TO show that the carbon dioxide is needed for photosynthesis

• Take a de-starched plant. Enclose it in a plastic bag with a chemical

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that absorbs carbon dioxide. (Soda lime absorbs carbon dioxide.)

• Leave the plant in the light for a few hours. Test a leaf for starch. The
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leaf should leave a negative result for the starch test. Deprived of
carbon dioxide the leaf is unable to photosynthesis and make starch.
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• A control experiment should be set up in exactly the same way but

without the soda lime. This means the plant in the control experiment
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does not have carbon dioxide removed. Then we can be sure it was
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the absence of carbon dioxide that caused the lack to starch and not
keeping the plant inside the plastic bag.
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EXPERIMENT 3:

To show that light is needed for photosynthesis

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• Take a de-starched plant.
• Cover part of the leaf with some aluminum foil to prevent light getting
through.

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• Leave the plant in the light for a few hours.
• Test the leaf for starch. Only the parts of the test leaf that were

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uncovered go blue-black. The parts of the leaf that were covered did
not receive light and could not carry out photosynthesis and so could

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not make starch.

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Rate of photosynthesis
Environmental conditions such as light intensity, carbon dioxide
concentration and temperature affect the rate of photosynthesis.

Light intensity

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• Photosynthesis increases when light gets brighter-but only up to a
point.
• When a certain light intensity is reached the rate of photosynthesis

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stays constant. It does not go any faster even if the light intensity

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continues to rise. This is because carbon dioxide concentration, water
supply or temperature may be restricting the rate.
• Many plants spread their leaves to catch as much light as they can.

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Light that is too strong can damage the chloroplasts.

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 Temperature

Chemical reactions catalysed by enzymes increase with temperature. An

increase in temperature increases the rate of photosynthesis until a certain
temperature when the rate reaches a maximum and then decreases.

The maximum rate occurs at the optimum temperature. Plants from the

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tropics have higher optimum temperatures for photosynthesis than those
from colder regions. The rate of photosynthesis decreases at higher
temperatures because the enzymes in chloroplasts are denatured.

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Note:
1.At low temperatures, the rate of photosynthesis is limited by the number of
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molecular collisions between enzymes and substrates.

2.At high temperatures, enzymes are denatured.
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 Carbondioxide

Carbondioxide , along with water are neeed for photosynthesis.If the

concentration of carbondioxide is increased , then the rate of
photosynthesis will also increase. But again at some point,a factor may
become a limiting reagent

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 Limiting factors

Definition: [ Latest definition] It is an internal or an external factor

such as carbon dioxide, water, light and temperature that is present
in the environment in such small quantities that it restricts life
processes

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BOARD QUESTION:

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O/N/06-P3-Q5b(ii)

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MARKING SCHEME: so
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Limiting factors of photosynthesis are:

Light intensity, temperature and carbon dioxide concentration.

LIGHT INTENSITY:
Light intensity influences the rate of
photosynthesis. If the light intensity is low, it
doesn’t matter if the plant has lots of carbon

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dioxide and water and a warm temperature
because there is a shortage of energy for
photosynthesis and the rate cannot be very

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high. In this case, light intensity is the limiting
factor for the rate of photosynthesis.

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TEMPERATURE:

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There is enough water in plants so that it does

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not become a limiting factor. During dry
condition, plants reduce the quantity of water
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they lose to the atmosphere by closing their
stomata. When stomata are closed no carbon
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dioxide can diffuse into the leaf which shows

down the rate of photosynthesis.
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CARBONDIOXIDE:
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Even if there is plenty of light, a plant cannot

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photosynthesise if there is insufficient carbon

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dioxide.
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Note: Only one factor can limit the rate at any one time as it depends
on which one is in the shortest supply.

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 Effect of light and dark conditions on gas exchange in an aquatic plant
using hydrogen carbonate indicator solution

Hydrogencarbonate indicator :
This indicator is used to show carbon dioxide concentration in solution.

The following table shows the colour changes that occur at different levels of

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carbon dioxide concentration.

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Hydrogencarbonate indicator
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1. Hydrogencarbonate indicator is an indicator that can detect any increase or decrease in the carbon
dioxide concentration.
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2. The indicator is normally red.

3. However, an increase in carbon dioxide changes the indicator to yellow and a decrease in carbon dioxide
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changes it to purple.
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Experiment:
Step 1:Four test tubes are taken.
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Step 2: In each tube there is an equal amount of hydrogencarbonate indicator taken .

Step 3: Three of the tubes contain a living leaf and the fourth test tube contains a dead leaf.
Step 4: Test tube 1 is covered in black paper, test tube 2 is covered in tissue paper, the 3rd and the 4th test
tube are not covered at all .
Observation:
Leaves in each of the test tubes are respiring, but the aount of photosynthesis depends on the light intensity,
indicating that highest photosynthesis is at bright light and none is in the dark

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Experiment

Plant in investigation into the effect of carbon dioxide on the rate of

photosynthesis
Adding sodium hydrogencarbonate to water increases the concentration
of carbon dioxide as it dissolves in the water.

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Adding different quantities of sodium hydrogencarbonate to change the
carbon dioxide concentration is one way to see the effects of varying the
carbon dioxide concentration on the rate of photosynthesis.

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Other factor like light intensity and temperature must stay constant.

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It will be seen that the plant produced more bubbles of gas as the carbon
dioxide concentration increases. The rate of photosynthesis should

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increase up to a point and then remain constant because another factor

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becomes limiting.

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Experiment
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Plant in investigation into the effect of temperature on the rate of

photosynthesis
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Temperature affects all reactions because an increase in temperature causes the

molecules involved to gain kinetic energy and therefore react more frequently.
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However, a very high temperature can denature the enzymes involved in these
reactions, reducing or even stopping the reaction completely.Similarly a very low
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temperature can slow down the process.

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Keeping an aquatic plant at different temperatures by keeping the light source

at different distances or by recording the bubbles given our by the aquatic plant
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during different times of the day can help us obtaina suitable data and plot
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results.
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The rate of photosynthesis should increase up to a point and then remain

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constant because another factor becomes limiting.

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Plant in investigation into the effect of change in light intensity on
the rate of photosynthesis

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EXPERIMENT:

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1. Aquatic plants is taken to demonstrate the production of oxygen in the
process of photosynthesis.
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2.An aquatic plant is placed in a solution containing a source of carbon dioxide
(CO2), in the presence of light .
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3. The bubbles produced as a result of oxygen production can be counted and the
rate of bubbling can serve as an indication of the rate of photosynthesis.
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2. In this experiment, the light intensity is changed, by moving the light source
towards and away form the plant
4. It is found that the number of oxygen bubbles decrease when light source is
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moved further away indicating that the rate of photosynthesis has decreased.
5. When the light intensity is increased, the rate of bubble production increased.
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6. Remove the light source altogether, or moving it to a distance beyond which

the energy levels are too small for photosynthesis,it was found that the bubbling
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ceased.
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Note:Light is essential for photosynthesis. Green plant cells that are placed in the
dark will not photosynthesis. An increase in light intensity will produce an increase
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in the rate of photosynthesis until a level of light intensity is reached above which
the rate does not increase because the light saturation point has been reached
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and another factor , such as (CO2 concentration or temperature) is limiting.

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