During the waxing gibbous phase is amount of illumination increasing or decreasing?

The amount of illumination is increasing during the waxing gibbous phase.

Here's why:

* Waxing means the illuminated portion of the Moon is getting larger.

* Gibbous means more than half of the Moon's visible surface is illuminated.

Therefore, during the waxing gibbous phase, the illuminated area of the Moon is growing, leading to increasing illumination.