Nathaniel Redwine
9-24-14
590550535305001st
Introduction
The process of photosynthesis occurs when six carbon dioxide molecules (CO2), six water molecules (H2O), and light energy are added together and result in glucose (C6H12O6) and six oxygen (O2) molecules. There are two stages to this process; light reactions and dark reactions. Light reactions start with chloroplast which absorbs the light. Inside the chloroplast are thylakoids that contain pigments which absorb certain wavelengths of light. Each cluster of pigments is called a photosystem. Photosystem I and II obtain some of the light’s energy. Light first enters chlorophyll A in photosystem II and the electrons inside become excited enough to leave it. Some of the electrons, which just left, enter a chain of reactions called the electron transport chain and it produces ATP. The electrons that couldn’t fit into the ETC move onto photosystem I. Those electrons then get excited by light energy and enter the ETC where they add a hydrogen atom to NADP to form NADPH.
Hypotheses
If you increase the intensity of light, then the production rate of ATP will increase. Violet (450-400 nm) will produce the most ATP.
Data
Light Intensity(lux) Percent of ATP
0 0
20 1.2
40 2.4
60 3.6
80 4.8
100 6
120 7.2
140 8.4
160 9.6
180 10.8
200 12
All data was collected at 575 nm
Wavelength (nm) Percent of ATP
400 52
425 80
450 12
475 6
500 6
525 8
550 12
575 9.6
600 16
625 46.4
650 68
675 22
700 4
725 3.2
750 2.4
Data was collected at 160 lux
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Conclusion
My hypothesis was correct; a higher intensity of light and the wavelength of the color violet produced the most ATP. The first graph showed that for every 20 lux, the percentage of ATP produced increased 1.2 percent. The second graph showed that a wavelength of 425 (nm) had the highest percentage of ATP produced. A