answersLogoWhite

0

The "living tree" experiment was a scientific study performed originally by Jan Baptiste van Helmont (1580-1644) and thereafter repeated by several other scientists in the decades and centuries following. Van Helmont measures the weight of the tree at the start of the experiment (five pounds) as well as the weight of the soil (200 pounds). After five years of regularly watering the tree, van Helmont noted that the soil only lost about 2 ounces of weight while the tree weighed an astonishing 164 pounds. He concluded that because the tree did not gain all this weight from the soil, it must have gained it from the water intake. Although we now know that plants gain much of their mass from photosynthesis/carbon dioxide as well as soil, van Helmont's experiment has been lauded as an early example of strict attention to detail and experimental controls.

User Avatar

Wiki User

16y ago

What else can I help you with?