Biology Forum › Botany Discussion › Photosynthesis Experiment – Do LED’s work?
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- June 22, 2011 at 8:43 am #15108mshortParticipant
Hi,
Does anyone know if using a battery powered LED light instead of an ordinary 40W bulb will work as well for a standard photosynthesis rate experiment? (we currently use a short section of Elodea in water and a lamp).
Thanks
- June 22, 2011 at 9:05 am #105375JackBeanParticipant
depends on wavelength of your LED 😉
- June 22, 2011 at 3:39 pm #105380jonmoultonParticipant
Try a red and a blue LED in combination.
This would be an interesting experiment to try: compare 2 red LED sources, 2 blue LED sources versus 1 red and 1 blue source in combination.
- June 22, 2011 at 7:56 pm #105383mithParticipant
Just remember the LED is a diode so you need to control the current running thru the circuit. Put in a limiting resistor or you will possibly damage it.
- June 22, 2011 at 10:46 pm #105385jonmoultonParticipant
A Buck Puck is a nice device for limiting current to an LED.
- July 7, 2011 at 3:49 am #105499VaucheriaParticipant
LED lamps work, and they are pretty eco if you ask me (they use less power). But as guys before me said, you need the right colors.
Here is my handmade LED lamp:
The "white" ones on the photo are actually blue. I think maybe more blue lights would work better than the ratio I have here, but the blue ones are very expensive here and my plants were fine with this.
It’s a bit ugly but it does the job:) And it costed me less then 15 euros to make (the most expensive part was the voltage adjusting device).
And I did a little laic experiment when I made it, I’ve planted 2 leeks at the same time (same soil) and kept them apart but made sure that they were on same temperature and humidity. One was growing under sunlight and the other one was kept without ANY exposure to natural light, in a locker with only LED lamp lighting it.
Here are the results:
The left one was kept under LED lamp and the right one was kept on the sunlight.
This was only to see for myself that the plant could survive living under LED (leeks are pretty easy to nurture so I don’t give much credit to it).Anyways, my current plants all do very well under the LED lights (I don’t have any sunlight in my room so I use it as a main source of light for them) and I guess It’s worth a try 🙂
The common red and blue LEDs sold here have the desired light wavelength for plants… - August 1, 2011 at 7:06 am #105740JackBeanParticipant
or you can try christmas lights, that should be cheap 😉
- September 4, 2013 at 11:32 am #114304GregoryStevensParticipantquote mshort:Hi,
Does anyone know if using a battery powered LED light instead of an ordinary 40W bulb will work as well for a standard photosynthesis rate experiment? (we currently use a short section of Elodea in water and a lamp).
Thanks
Do these lights work? I am looking to get new interior lights for my plants so which ones are best suited?Please reply thanks in advance:)
- October 13, 2013 at 6:33 am #114524CoelacanthParticipant
The rate of photosynthesis in the majority of plant species is the highest at approximately 450 nm and 675 nm wavelengths. 450 nm represents the most purple of hues in the visible spectrum, whilst 675 nm manifests itself as a reddish-orange.
If you are utilizing an LED then the light intensity is dependant upon the current. Evidently, Vaucheria’s post would suggest that the light energy emitted from an LED is sufficient to maintain sufficient photosynthesis for the survival and growth of plants.
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