I know from doing this experiment more than once “granted” on spinach. That the light that passes through the flask, and then through a prism to split the visible spectrum gives some vary intriguing results. As does the splitting of the reflected light from the front. The cost of doing this experiment is under a $100. I used to do the prep work for my mothers biology high school class every year for more than 10 years. I would do the prep work in our family kitchen. Only takes about 1.5 hours prep work and the solution is good 5 days.
I had to use this demonstration with FFA horticulture students visiting the university as a graduate. They used me because I had done it more than anyone else on the team.
I think it would be a perfect sales tool for light manufacturers. Growers are vary touchy feely learners as a group.
The only trick is setting up the mirror for focusing the reflected light, from the front. I learned to barrow a lens from my father the eye surgeon, portable eye testing kit.
The reflected light is as interesting as The absorbed light.
Plus, you can identify execactly the pigments and there relitive ratios to one another. You can show the different molecular weight of each pigment and there effect on light.
Also the solution makes carbohydrates when light is turned on so you can show parts of the creb cycle.
Just more food for thought, I think using cannabis as the plant material would sell the lights themselves.
My dream after doing this experiment was the ability to tune my future greenhouse lights. I would have to look at our inventory for build cost in 1990 but I bet my HID lights cost about half of my greenhouse structure frame cost. And we used Nexus greenhouses with 12 foot sidewalls. Today lighting is such a lower investment cost and negligible on operating expenses. I bet my fans electric usage would be higher than my, electric bill than LED lights. This was certainly not true with HID lights. I would cringe every time we needed supplemental lighting. The meter would spin so much faster with the HID lights on.
This is one reason I want to know my cost accounting down to the gnats ass. I want to pay my workers not my utility company. Employee are your biggest cost and my biggest asset. Training a good junior grower cost about a years wages before they are truly engrained in your production techniques and can show a return on the investment.