Question

A scientist did an experiment using a chemical inhibitor that stops photosynthesis for a certain type of plant. He grew two plants, giving the chemical to one plant and not to the other. Both plants were given equal amounts of water and sunlight. He then measured the growth of both plants as shown in the table below.

Date Height of
Control Plant
(cm) Height of Plant
Treated With
Chemical Inhibitor
(cm)
June 5 8.3 8.6
June 7 8.7 8.7
June 9 9.2 8.7
June 11 9.6 8.7

Why did the plant that could not photosynthesize stop growing?
A.
It did not have enough water to grow.
B.
It did not have enough other plants to consume for food.
C.
It did not have enough food for building materials.
D.
It did not have enough light to grow.

Answer 1

C. It did not have enough food for building materials.

Photosynthesis makes the sugars and carbon compounds a plant uses both for energy and as the raw materials to build new cells. With photosynthesis blocked, the treated plant couldn’t produce those compounds, so it stopped growing even though it had water and light.