Biology · Bioenergetics. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.
Photosynthesis is how plants and algae make glucose. It happens in the chloroplasts. It is endothermic: energy is transferred from the environment to the chloroplasts by light.
The rate depends on light intensity, carbon dioxide concentration, temperature and the amount of chlorophyll. The factor that is in shortest supply is the limiting factor. On a graph, where the line is still rising, the factor on the x-axis is limiting. Where the line is flat, something else is limiting.
Temperature acts through enzymes. A warmer plant photosynthesises faster, until the enzymes denature and the rate falls. Growers add light, heat and carbon dioxide to greenhouses only if the extra crop pays for the cost.
Thinking that halving the distance of the lamp doubles the light intensity. The distance is squared, so halving the distance gives 4 times the intensity.
Answer: The light intensity falls to 1/16 (× 0.0625) of its first value.
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