Different volumes of acetic acid affect the oxygen production of spinach leaves during photosynthesis

Abstract

The burning of fossil fuels, leading to an increased amount of carbon emissions, is the main cause of acid rain. Acid rain is precipitation that has elevated levels of hydrogen ions due to the formation of carbonic acid. Acid rain affects the process of photosynthesis, which makes the topic valuable to investigate. In the course of chemistry, our group has learned the background information about acid and bases with its properties. With the passion of biology, our group determined to create a lab that consists of both knowledge of chemistry and biology. 
 In 1990, the implementation of the Clean Air Act aimed to limit the amount of carbon emission that causes acid rain with a total annual loss of a hundred 97 million dollars in commercial forest. With such findings, our group utilizes plants to further investigate the relationship between pH value and photosynthesis. In this experiment, our group hypothesized that rain with a lower pH will decrease the rate of photosynthesis, causing less oxygen to be produced in the reaction. Extreme acidity destroys chloroplast structure, decreases chloroplast ATP synthase activity, and reduces photosynthesis and plant growth. However, by conducting an experiment with spinach and utilizing a syringe to collect the amount of oxygen produced during the experiment, we discovered a breakthrough in which a slightly acidic environment can foster photosynthesis until it reaches a pH level less than two.