How light intensity affects the rate of photosynthesis

... tensitylength 1 length 2average length(cm)(lux)(mm)(mm)(mm)510153.53.53.510945 3.53.53.512770433.5146393.53.53.51650033.53.25183953332031023.52.75252081.52.51.75301491.51.51.53511011140800.510.75455500.50.25 Although, because I was using light intensity as my variable, I did not need to record the distances as well, I did, simply to use them as a marker for each result, so that I only had to record the light intensity once at the beginning and from then I just had to align the lamp at the correct distance each time. Analysis My graph was in the form of a best-fit curve. I drew it as a curve rather than a straight line because of the clear pattern of the points. This meant that the rate of photosynthesis increased as the light intensity increased. This was because photosynthesis is a reaction, which needs energy from light to work, so as the amount of energy available from light increased with the rise in light intensity, so did the amount of oxygen produced as a product of photosynthesis. My graphs showed that the relationship between the light intensity and the rate of photosynthesis was non-linear, as both graphs produced a best-fit curve. However, as I expected in my hypothesis, it does appear that for the very first part of the graph, the increase in rate is in fact proportional to the increase in light intensity (i.e. a straight line) and I can show this by taking some readings from the graph: Light intensity Rate of photosynthesis (All increase by the 100 1 (mm/min) same factor) 150 1.5 (mm/min) 200 2 (mm/min) From these results, I am able to say that an increase in light intensity does certainly increase the rate of photosynthesis. The gradual decrease in the rate of increase of the rate of photosynthesis (the shallowing of the curve) can be attributed to the other factors limiting the rate of photosynthesis. As light intensity increases, the photosynthetic rate is being limited by certain factors, such as carbon dioxide and temperature. These factors do not immediately limit the rate of photosynthesis, but rather gradually. As light intensity increases further, so the rate of photosynthesis is ...