It seems that the respiration rate was highest in the test tube with germinating seeds on top of the potassium hydroxide cotton ball. The volume decreased steadily over the 30 minute period, indicating that the germinating seeds were releasing carbon dioxide through respiration.
The test tube with non-germinating seeds on top of the cotton ball showed a slight increase in volume, suggesting that there was some absorption of carbon dioxide by the cotton ball, but not as much respiration occurring compared to the germinating seeds.
The test tube with glass beads on top of the cotton ball showed very little change in volume, indicating that the glass beads did not produce or absorb carbon dioxide during the experiment.
Overall, this experiment demonstrates the importance of using living organisms, such as germinating seeds, in studies on respiration and carbon dioxide exchange.
A cotton ball with 15% potassium hydroxide, which absorbs excess carbon dioxide, was added to three different test tubes. On top of the cotton ball, an equal weight of either glass beads, germinating seeds, or non-germinating seeds was placed. A respirometer was attached to the top of each test tube and the volume was measured every 5 minutes for 30 minutes. The change in volume for each of the three tubes can be seen in the graph below.
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