Question

Moin took some soil and measured the concentration of nitrogenous compounds in it. He distributed the soil equally in two pots- P and Q which he placed in sunlight.

He planted 10 sunflower seeds in Pot P and allowed them to grow. He did not grow anything in the Pot Q.
After one month, he tested the concentration of nitrogenous compounds in both the pots.
What do you think was his observation?

Answer 1

Pot Q would contain more concentration of nitrogenous compounds than Pot P.

Step-by-step explanation:

Plants require certain inorganic nutrients for their growth and development. One of these nutrients is Nitrogen. Nitrogen is an integral part of certain biomolecules and structures in organisms including plants e.g nucleic acids (DNA and RNA), Chloroplast in plant cells, Amino acids etc.

Plants, through their roots, absorb nitrogen in form of nitrogenous compounds like ammonium, nitrates etc. present in the soil. Certain bacteria in the soil help fix nitrogen into usable compounds by the plants, since plants cannot absorb nitrogen directly from the atmosphere.

In this case, Moin measured the concentration of nitrogenous compounds in a particular soil prior to planting. He then separated the soil into Pot P and Q. He planted sunflower seeds in Pot P and planted nothing in Pot Q. If he measures the concentration of nitrogenous compounds in both soil, he should observe that the concentration of nitrogenous compounds in Pot P has reduced due to absorption by the roots of plants grown in them. The concentration of nitrogenous compounds in Pot Q would now be more as there are no plans to absorb them.