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This lesson covers the required core practical for investigating how light intensity affects the rate of photosynthesis, as required by the Edexcel GCSE Combined Science specification (1SC0). You need to describe the method using pondweed, explain how the inverse square law applies, identify variables and describe how to present and interpret the results.
To investigate the effect of light intensity on the rate of photosynthesis by measuring the volume of oxygen produced (or the number of bubbles released) by an aquatic plant (pondweed) at different distances from a light source.
As light intensity increases (i.e. the lamp is moved closer to the pondweed), the rate of photosynthesis will increase. This is because light provides the energy for photosynthesis. Since light intensity follows the inverse square law (intensity ∝ 1/d²), halving the distance should quadruple the light intensity.
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