C-SCIE1103 Module 6 Analysis

Is the first part of the lab (“Carbon, Light, and Photosynthesis”) capable of conclusively demonstrating to someone who knows nothing about photosynthesis that plants use carbon dioxide, water, and light to make sugars? If so, how? If not, what knowledge of photosynthesis is assumed to be true in order to make any conclusions from the lab?

After starting with 0 floating spinach disks in the carbon/dark cup, a student observes 2 floating spinach disks in that cup after 8 minutes. What could be a possible reason for this observation? Why?

In the second part of the lab (“Separating Leaf Pigments”), suppose that instead of giving you Table 1 (Plant Pigment R_f Values), Science Interactive gave you bottles of each of the individual pigments (β-carotene, chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, anthocyanins, and xanthophylls). What could you do to be able to identify which pigment was which on your spinach leaf chromatography strip?

Is it possible that there could be molecules other than the pigments listed in Table 1 present in large quantities on the spinach leaf chromatography paper? If so, why might you not see them? If it is not possible, how do you know?