Analyzing And Comparing The Absorption Of Visible Light Of Spinacia Oleracea And Musa Acuminata
Analyzing and comparing the absorption of visible light of Spinacia oleracea and Musa acuminata
Pruthvi Pediredla
Due: February 21, 2014
BY 214: Botany
I certify that this work is solely my own, and any outside source was paraphrased and properly cited.
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to give insight about the role of absorption in plants and to compare two particular plants, Spinacia oleracea and Musa acuminata, which use different wavelengths of light to display various pigments of color. The light energy for photosynthesis calls for an array of light to be absorbed by the plants. In this experiment, the different wavelengths of light can be traced and graphed by extracting chlorophyll from these two plants and placing them into a spectrophotometer, which identifies what wavelengths of light a pigment absorbs. It was found that Musa acuminata, commonly referred to as banana palm, showed different absorption levels of visible light than Spinacia oleracea, also commonly referred to as spinach. It was concluded that both the spinach and banana palm grew in various conditions, which caused the plants to absorb different wavelengths of light.
Introduction Light is an essential component in the growth of a plant. It is used in photosynthesis as a form of energy to produce sugar and oxygen which are necessary for both plants and humans. Plants have pigment molecules, particularly chlorophyll, which absorb different wavelengths of visible light. Plants accept nearly all wavelengths except green. This is because chlorophyll a, which is the main pigment in plants, doesn’t get energized by the color of green so it doesn’t get absorbed. This is why plants reflect the color of green. However, all the other colors which get absorbed, affect how the plants grow and what pigments they reflect. In this experiment, the objective was to see what kinds of wavelengths the spinach and banana palm plants absorbed and why each plant chose to absorb
Pruthvi Pediredla
Due: February 21, 2014
BY 214: Botany
I certify that this work is solely my own, and any outside source was paraphrased and properly cited.
Abstract
The purpose of this study is to give insight about the role of absorption in plants and to compare two particular plants, Spinacia oleracea and Musa acuminata, which use different wavelengths of light to display various pigments of color. The light energy for photosynthesis calls for an array of light to be absorbed by the plants. In this experiment, the different wavelengths of light can be traced and graphed by extracting chlorophyll from these two plants and placing them into a spectrophotometer, which identifies what wavelengths of light a pigment absorbs. It was found that Musa acuminata, commonly referred to as banana palm, showed different absorption levels of visible light than Spinacia oleracea, also commonly referred to as spinach. It was concluded that both the spinach and banana palm grew in various conditions, which caused the plants to absorb different wavelengths of light.
Introduction Light is an essential component in the growth of a plant. It is used in photosynthesis as a form of energy to produce sugar and oxygen which are necessary for both plants and humans. Plants have pigment molecules, particularly chlorophyll, which absorb different wavelengths of visible light. Plants accept nearly all wavelengths except green. This is because chlorophyll a, which is the main pigment in plants, doesn’t get energized by the color of green so it doesn’t get absorbed. This is why plants reflect the color of green. However, all the other colors which get absorbed, affect how the plants grow and what pigments they reflect. In this experiment, the objective was to see what kinds of wavelengths the spinach and banana palm plants absorbed and why each plant chose to absorb