You have learned about photosynthesis and have identified the starting materials and products for the process. In the past, many famous scientists performed creative investigations to clarify the process of photosynthesis. See if you can interpret the results of one investigation correctly. choose a random investagation about photosynthesis from a famous person
One famous investigation about photosynthesis was conducted by Jan Baptista van Helmont, a Belgium chemist and physician in the 17th century. He sought to understand how plants grew and gain insight into the origins of plant mass.
In his experiment, van Helmont took a seedling of a willow tree and planted it in a pot with dried soil, carefully weighing the soil and tree before and after the experiment. He watered the plant but did not add any additional soil, nutrients, or substances to the pot.
After five years of observing and caring for the plant, van Helmont discovered that the tree had grown substantially, gaining around 75.6 kg (166.8 lbs) in weight. Surprisingly, the soil in the pot had only lost a negligible amount of mass.
From these results, van Helmont concluded that the increase in plant mass was not primarily due to the soil material being transformed into plant matter, as was commonly believed at the time. Instead, he proposed that water provided the main source of plant growth.
However, it is important to note that van Helmont's conclusion was not entirely accurate. While water is indeed a crucial component for plant growth, it is not the sole source of plant mass. His experiment did not account for the carbon dioxide present in the air, which is a significant contributor to the formation of plant biomass through photosynthesis.
Nonetheless, van Helmont's investigation was a significant contribution to understanding the role of water in plant growth, although his conclusions were not entirely comprehensive in terms of the full process of photosynthesis.