Catalase Investigation

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The Catalase Investigation

Aim:

To investigate how increasing the surface area of potato pieces and therefore the higher the concentration of catalase, affects the amount of oxygen released by Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).

Introduction:

Hydrogen Peroxide, chemical compound of hydrogen and oxygen with the formula H2O2. Pure, anhydrous hydrogen peroxide is a colourless, syrupy liquid. It blisters the skin and has a metallic taste. The liquid solidifies at -0.41° C (31.4° F). Concentrated solutions are unstable, and the pure liquid may explode violently if heated to a temperature above 100° C (302.4° F). It is soluble in water in all proportions. To slow the decomposition of the peroxide into water and oxygen, organic substances, such as acetanilide, are added to the solutions, and they are kept in dark bottles at a low temperature.

Hydrogen peroxide acts as both an oxidizing and a reducing agent. Its oxidizing properties are used in the bleaching of substances, such as hair, ivory, feathers, and delicate fabrics, which would be destroyed by other agents. It is also used medicinally, as an antiseptic and throat wash. Hydrogen peroxide is used in restoring the original colours to paintings. It is also used as a source of oxygen in the fuel mixture for many rockets and torpedoes. As a reducing agent it reacts only with such easily reduced chemicals as silver oxide and potassium manganate. (Microsoft Encarta 96)

Enzyme, any one of many specialized organic substances, composed of polymers of amino acids, that act as catalysts to regulate the speed of the many chemical reactions involved in the metabolism of living organisms. (Microsoft Encarta 96)
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Catalyst, a substance that alters the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any chemical change. Enzymes, which are among the most powerful catalysts, play an essential role in living organisms, where they accelerate reactions that otherwise would require temperatures that would destroy most of the organic matter. (Microsoft Encarta 96)

Catalase, an enzyme that brings about the reaction by which hydrogen peroxide is decomposed to water and oxygen. Found extensively in mammalian tissues, catalase prevents the accumulation of and protects the body tissues from damage by peroxide, which is continuously produced by numerous metabolic reactions. ...

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