Mimosa Pudica : modelling and analysis of heat stimulation of the plant movement

Abstract

Mimosa Pudica is sensitive to physical parameters such as touch, electricity, heat and light. The plant displays rapid leaf movement in response to stimulations. The leaves fold inward and drop downwards and then re-open several minutes later. Many detailed researches have been done on Mimosa Pudica. There are studies on the effect of different types of stimulations on Mimosa Pudica. There are studies on the effect of consecutive stimulations on the response time of the rapid leaf movement. However, there is little research of the fatigue life behaviour of the plant. In this study, refinements of the available data and analysis of the fatigue life behaviour of Mimosa Pudica were made. For the study, the response time readings were refined to eliminate errors. The range of the response time readings for every cycle were tabulated. The response time readings were then examined and two or five percent of the total number of specimens were removed. After which, the fatigue life behaviour was analysed. The effect of size dimensions on fatigue life was also investigated. The results revealed that the recovery period generally increases greatly from the 10th to 11th cycle. The recovery period is relatively long for the subsequent cycles and approaches a limiting value. Unfortunately, the limit of the total response time could not be established as the steady value of the response time had not been reached. The specimens categorised into groups based on small, medium and large dimensions displayed similar trends of fatigue. For future studies, a more extensive study on the comparisons of the limiting fatigue life value between different categories could be made.