Identical well-watered bean plants are placed outdoors. A windbreak shelters one group from air movement. The soil surface in every pot is covered, and light intensity and temperature are the same. The sheltered plants take up less water.
Which statement explains this result?
Water molecules have less kinetic energy, so less water evaporates from the mesophyll cells.
Water moves down the xylem towards the roots, so less water reaches the leaves.
Moist air remains near the stomata, so water vapour diffuses out of the leaves more slowly.
Guard cells become more turgid, so the stomata release less water vapour from the leaves.
80 exam-style questions on Edexcel GCSE Biology 6.2 Transport in plants, covering 6.2.1 Root hair cell adaptations, 6.2.2 Structure of xylem and phloem, 6.2.3 Transpiration and stomata, 6.2.4 Translocation of sucrose, 6.2.5 Leaf structure for photosynthesis, 6.2.6 Environmental factors on water uptake, 6.2.7 Rate calculations for transpiration, and 6.2.8 Plant adaptations to extreme environments. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.