Absorption of minerals by plants

Principle

Plants absorb mineral components through the roots from the soil and transport them to the leaves. In this experiment students examine how mineral components are "absorbed" in plants. . Therfore students let plants grow in water containing mineral fertilizers as weil as in normal drinking water. After the minerals have been extracted from the plant and evaporated the mineral salts are detected and determined with a flame test. For example a burgundy-flame coloration can be observed by the burning plants grown in lithium salt added water.

Tasks 

• Examination mineral transport in plants
• Flame staining to detect the mineral salts

Learning objectives

• Mineral absorbence in plants
• Detection of metals ions by using flame spectroscopy

Benefits

• Easy teaching and efficient learning by using interactive experimentation PHYWE-Software
• Experiment is part of a complete solution set with experiments for all Inorganic Chemistry matched with international curriculum: all topics are covered