(a) In plant shoots, the role of auxin is to cause a positive phototropism, i.e. to grow the planttowards the light. When light is incident on a plant from one direction, it causes the auxins to redistribute towards the shaded side of the plant. One function of auxin is to cause cell elongation. The redistribution causes the cells on the shaded side to elongate more than those on the side with the light shining on them. This causes the shoot to bend towards the light.
(b) The objective of the experiment is to show phototropic movement of plant.