Like all living organisms, plants require organic and inorganic nutrients to survive, reproduce, grow and maintain homeostasis. To identify nutrients that are essential for plant functioning, researchers have leveraged a technique called hydroponics. In hydroponic culture systems, plants are grown—without soil—in water-based solutions containing nutrients. At least 17 nutrients have been identified as essential elements required by plants. Plants acquire these elements from the...

Though evaporation from plant leaves drives transpiration, it also results in loss of water. Because water is critical for photosynthetic reactions and other cellular processes, evolutionary pressures on plants in different environments have driven the acquisition of adaptations that reduce water loss.

A spray tank system is engineered to uniformly distribute a pest-control liquid across plants by using a pressurized mechanism. The tank, pressurized to 150 kPa, holds the pesticide at a height of 0.80 meters. Liquid flows from the tank through a 1.9 meter pipe with a diameter of 0.015 meters, angled at 0.698 radians, ultimately reaching a 0.007 meter nozzle that sprays the pesticide. Accurate calculation of the system's flow rate is crucial to ensure uniform application, and this is achieved...