Vivien Coombs

AP Biology
Schulte
Experiment #3
Date of Experiment: 1/3/18

The Effect of Bicarbonate and Plain Water on the Rate of Photosynthesis in

Leaves
 Abstract

This experiment looks at the effects of bicarbonate solution and plain water on leaf disks
as well as their rate of photosynthesis. The disks would form bubbles of oxygen in the leaves
which would cause them to float to the top of the syringes filled with either bicarbonate solution
or plain water. Leaf disks were placed in the two solutions and tested to see which solution the
disks would respond more to and to see how much of an affect the solutions had on the
photosynthesis process. Neither the bicarbonate or the water caused the disks to float up in the
first three minutes of submersion; neither solution also did not cause multiple disks to float to the
top for several minutes. Trial two of the plain water experiment caused the most reaction,
resulting in 8 disks floating to the top of the syringe; I would say that, overall, the water resulted
better than the bicarbonate solution.
The independent variables were the bicarbonate solution and the plain water while the
dependent variables were the leaf disks.

Materials and Equipment

● Sodium bicarbonate (baking soda)

● Liquid Soap
● Plastic syringe (10cc or larger)
● Leaf material
● Hole punch
● Plastic cups
● Timer
● Light source
 Procedure and Methods

1. Prepare 300mL of bicarbonate solution for each trial.

a. The bicarbonate serves as an alternate dissolved source of carbon dioxide for
photosynthesis. Prepare a 0.2% solution. (This is not very much… it is only about 3g of a
teaspoon of baking soda in 300mL of water.)
b. Add 1 drop of dilute liquid soap to this solution. The soap wets the hydrophobic surface
of the leaf allowing the solution to be drawn into the leaf. It’s difficult to quantify this
since liquid soaps vary in concentration. Avoid suds. If your solution generates suds then
dilute it with more bicarbonate solution.
2. Cut 10 uniform leaf disks for each trial using a hole puncher
3. Infiltrate the leaf disks with sodium bicarbonate solution.
a. Remove the piston or plunger and place the leaf disks into the syringe barrel. Replace the
plunger being careful not to crush the leaf disks. Push on the plunger until only a small
volume of air and leaf disk remain in the barrel (<10%).
b. Pull a small volume of sodium bicarbonate solution into the syringe. Tap the syringe to
suspend the leaf disks in the solution.
c. Holding a finger over the syringe-opening, draw back on the plunger to create a vacuum.
Hold this vacuum for about 10 seconds. While holding the vacuum, swirl the leaf disks to
suspend them in the solution. Let off the vacuum. The bicarbonate solution will infiltrate
the air spaces in the leaf causing the disks to sink. You will probably have to repeat this
procedure 2-3 times in order to get the disks to sink. ​If you have difficulty getting your
disks to sink after about 3 evacuations, it is usually because there is not enough soap
in the solution. Add a few more drops of soap.
d. Pour the disks and solution into a clear plastic cup labeled “with CO​2​”.
e. For a control infiltrate leaf disks with a solution of only water with a drop of soap--NO
BICARBONATE. Follow the same steps above and pour the disks into a clear plastic cup
labeled “without CO​2​”
f. Place both cups under the light source at the same time and start the timer. At the end of
each minute, record the number of floating disks. Then swirl the disks to dislodge any
that are stuck against the sides of the cups. Continue until all of the disks are floating in
the cup with the bicarbonate solution.

Some potential hazards would include handling the bicarbonate solution; it is not harmful
to the skin, but could be harmful if in contact with the eyes.
 Results

Trial 1:
​BICARBONATE
Minutes Disks

1 0

2 0

3 0

4 0

5 0

6 0

7 0

8 0

9 0

10 0

11 0

12 2

13 2

14 2

15 2

There were no disks that floated for the first 11 minutes and then every minute a couple
disks would float up at a time; the more time would pass the more disks would bubbles of
oxygen would form in the disks.
Trial 2:
BICARBONATE
Minutes Disks

1 0

2 0

3 0

4 0

5 0

6 0

7 1

8 1

9 2

10 3

11 4

12 4

13 4

14 5

15 6

It did not take as long for the disks to start to float in this trial; the vacuum was more
secure and the process went more smoothly the second time, causing more disks to float as time
went on.
 Trail 1:
PLAIN WATER
Minutes Disks

1 0

2 0

3 0

4 1

5 1

6 1

7 1

8 1

9 1

10 3

11 3

12 5

13 7

14 7

15 7

More disks floated in the first trial of the plain water than the bicarbonate first trial; the
disks could more easily form oxygen in the plain water than in the bicarbonate solution created.
 Trial 2:
PLAIN WATER
Minutes Disks

1 0

2 0

3 0

4 0

5 2

6 2

7 3

8 4

9 4

10 7

11 7

12 7

13 7

14 7

15 8

Disks floated at around the same time in this trial as they did in trial 1; however, more
disks would float up at a time than in the first trial but then started to settle at the top at around
minute 10 and stayed at the same number of disks.
 Analysis

The disks responded better in the plain water rather than the bicarbonate solution in both
the first trial and the second. I believe that the water was better for the leaves for when they were
forming the oxygen bubbles, because the water did not have any carbon to interfere with the
oxygen. The bicarbonate solution seemed to delay the photosynthesis process, making it take
longer for the disks to form their oxygen. While the bicarbonate did delay the floating that
occured, the disks were still able to float and if they had been given more time in the solution, it
most likely would have resulted in just as many disks floating to the top as in the water cup. The
most disks to float to the top occured in the second trial of the water cup; the fact that this was
the second trial was most likely the reason that more floated than in the first because the vacuum
was more secure and the syringe was put together better. This experiment measures how much
oxygen is accumulated in the spongy mesophyll layer of the leaves; the mesophyll layer
accumulated the most oxygen in the water solution.

Background

An important part of photosynthesis is the accumulation of oxygen in plants, more

specifically in the mesophyll layer of the leaves. The oxygen in the leaves allows the plant to
create the necessary nutrients it needs to thrive; then aerobic respiration will consume the the
accumulated oxygen in the mesophyll. Due to the oxygen in plants, the leaves in the plants are
able to float in water and the rate at which they float shows us how fast the plants go through
photosynthesis. Plants need more than just oxygen to complete photosynthesis, they also need
sunlight, CO​2 ​ and water to create that glucose and O​2​; the O​2​ released from plants is not the
same oxygen that is in the mesophyll, oxygen is created along with the glucose and is the air
humans breathe.

Citations
How Did Plants Develop Photosynthesis? (2013, March 01). Retrieved January 14, 2018, from
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/how-did-plants-develop-photosynthesis-21138
044/