Leaf Mass Method
Percent Change in Mass
• Remember to calculate the percent change in
mass
Final Mass – Initial Mass X 100
Initial Mass
Remember a negative % change just means a
loss in mass.
Leaf Mass Method
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
1.
Cut off all the leaves on the plant and mass them. (grams)
Cut a 1 cm2 section out of 1 leaf.
Mass the 1 cm2 section.
Multiply the section’s mass by 10,000 to calculate the mass per
square meter of the leaf. (g/m2)
Divide the total mass of the leaves from step 1 by the mass per
square meter from step 4. This value is the leaf surface area.
(m2)
Calculate the water loss per square meter of leaf surface by
dividing the water loss at each reading by the leaf surface area
you calculated. Record your results.
water loss (change in mass in grams)
leaf surface area
Calculate class averages for the data to use for your graphs
Class Data
Group #
Control
Humidity
Light
Fan
Dark
Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4