How Different Light/Dark Cycles Affects Algae.

Abstract

Algae, when given the right conditions, can produce biofuel. The purpose of our experiment was to understand if the amount of algae growth would increase because of increased exposure to light and we did this by taking a set amount of water from a source location and put them in photobioreactors for 1 week and measured the amount of algae cells. Each experimental trial had either a 24-hour light cycle, a 24-hour dark cycle, or a regular day night cycle for a Oklahoma October day. We found that the 24-hour day cycle had the best result as it had the smallest decrease in the number of cells. Unfortunately one of our samples was lost and never found so we cannot make a concrete conclusion. Our results lead us to believe that a 24-hour day cycle had the best conditions for the survival of algae. Our study, and future studies, of algae may help the biofuel industry in the future.