Effect of Differing Light Wavelengths on Photosynthetic Rate Based on Change of Carbon Dioxide Concentration

Abstract

Photosynthesis, a light dependent process, directly influences the development of plants; thus it would be expected that with changing light conditions photosynthetic rate and, consequently, production of carbon dioxide would be affected. This occurs because plants contain an array of pigments that absorb or reflect differing wavelengths of light. During ACME’s studies, under artificial lighting, many plants often suffered greatly of either lack of development or death due to the plants inability to use the light wavelengths provided (French, 2014). The experiment we conducted explains the relationship between pigment presence and the ability of a plant to make use of different colored lights as they did not measure the instant related inputs or outputs of oxygen and carbon dioxide, which display the rate that photosynthesis is occurring. We developed an experiment to decipher the immediate effects of differing wavelengths of light on plants. Measuring the difference of carbon dioxide consumption and oxygen production we compared the effect on photosynthetic rate that green, blue, and no lights have on the red-colored plant, Coleus sp. As a result of our experimentation, we found the necessary lighting conditions that are required to yield healthy or quickly growing plants within an artificial environment.