Discussions:

Plant is source of oxygen and food for human. Plants conduct photosynthesis to make their
own food and the generate oxygen for human being and for all living organisms. Plants
absorb carbon dioxide released by human during respiratory process where human inhale
oxygen released by plants and exhale carbon dioxide for plants to conduct photosynthesis
process. Plants also need sunlight and water to conduct the photosynthesis process. Every
plants have their own rate of photosynthesis, but the rate of photosynthesis of some plants
are affected by some factors such as light intensity, concentration of carbon dioxide and
temperature which is also known as limiting factors.

In this experiment, we investigate one of the factors affecting the rate of photosynthesis
which is light intensity using Hydrilla sp. Sodium hydrogen carbonate solution is used,
because this solution supplies carbon dioxide (Co2) for the plant to carry out
photosynthesis process. The temperature of water remained constant because it may affect
the rate of photosynthesis. The light source is placed at different distance such as 10cm,
20cm, 30cm, 40cm, and 50cm from the plant as the light source represent as the light
intensity. The different distance between the plant and the light source (d) helps in
obtaining the different light intensity. The light intensity is taken through the reciprocal of
the distance (1/d).

The light intensity decreases as the light source placed at further distance form the plant
and it also increase as the light source placed nearer to the plant. During the experiment,
the Hydrilla sp. release some gas bubbles from the lower end or from the lower part of the
stem. The number of gas bubbles released in 5 minutes by the plant represent the rate of
photosynthesis of the plant. Small number of gas bubbles released by the plant as the light
intensity become lower or when the distance between the plant and the light source become
further. On the other hand, the plant also releases more gas bubbles when the distance
between the plant and the light source become nearer or when the light intensity become
higher.

According to the experiment, the rate of photosynthesis increases as the light intensity
increase. The rate of photosynthesis in this experiment also affected by a limiting factor
which is the concentration of photosynthesis (Co2). The limiting factor present because of
the 0.2ml sodium hydrogen carbonate solution used during the experiment. The limiting
factor will help in maintaining the rate of photosynthesis at a constant rate after the rate of
photosynthesis reaches the limit. This experiment proves that the rate of photosynthesis
affected by limiting factors such as light intensity, carbon dioxide concentration and
temperature.