How does temperature affect an Enzyme (Amylase)?
This experiment investigates the effect that temperature has on an enzyme, in this case amylase. Amylase is the enzyme in the body that breaks down starch into glucose. The time is measured that it takes an amylase solution to digest the starch solution at different temperatures. By repeating the experiment over a range of temperatures, this should show the optimum temperature for amylase to work most efficiently.
Enzymes
Enzymes are biological catalysts that are present in all living cells, they control the metabolic reactions in the body. A catalyst is a substance, which speeds up a chemical reaction but is left unchanged after the reaction. Without enzymes the reactions in living cells would be far too slow to keep life going.
The substance on which an enzyme acts is called a substrate of that enzyme. Since each enzyme has to be shaped exactly to suit its own substrate a differed enzyme is needed for every substrate. The place on the enzyme molecule where the substrate binds is called the active site of the enzyme. The substrate in this experiment is starch, the enzyme amylase. The reaction happens when the amylase molecule and the starch molecule are fitted together.
Chemicals can only react together if their molecules come into contact with each other. As molecules have more energy the higher the temperature, the more likely they are to come into contact with each other. When they come into contact with each other, they can react. The more collisions, the more the enzyme will be able to work, so the faster the reaction will go.
So enzymes are affected by temperature, if they change they make the active site change shape and the substrate may not fit so well. Therefore enzymes have an upper limit of temperature that they can work at. Above this temperature, the enzyme molecule starts to get damaged (denatured) and cannot do its job as well, so the reaction slows down.
The human body has a constant temperature of approximately 37º Centigrade (C). Is this, the optimum temperature for human enzymes to work at? Above a certain temperature enzymes begin to distort and work less well, for example it is thought that if you heat most enzymes above 40º C they start to distort. If an enzyme is heated over about 70º C they change shape so much they can never work again. This is denaturing.
As mentioned the enzyme used for this experiment is amylase. Amylase is produced in the salivary glands and pancreas to aid the chemical digestion of food. Digestion means the breakdown of large, insoluble food molecules into
This experiment investigates the effect that temperature has on an enzyme, in this case amylase. Amylase is the enzyme in the body that breaks down starch into glucose. The time is measured that it takes an amylase solution to digest the starch solution at different temperatures. By repeating the experiment over a range of temperatures, this should show the optimum temperature for amylase to work most efficiently.
Enzymes
Enzymes are biological catalysts that are present in all living cells, they control the metabolic reactions in the body. A catalyst is a substance, which speeds up a chemical reaction but is left unchanged after the reaction. Without enzymes the reactions in living cells would be far too slow to keep life going.
The substance on which an enzyme acts is called a substrate of that enzyme. Since each enzyme has to be shaped exactly to suit its own substrate a differed enzyme is needed for every substrate. The place on the enzyme molecule where the substrate binds is called the active site of the enzyme. The substrate in this experiment is starch, the enzyme amylase. The reaction happens when the amylase molecule and the starch molecule are fitted together.
Chemicals can only react together if their molecules come into contact with each other. As molecules have more energy the higher the temperature, the more likely they are to come into contact with each other. When they come into contact with each other, they can react. The more collisions, the more the enzyme will be able to work, so the faster the reaction will go.
So enzymes are affected by temperature, if they change they make the active site change shape and the substrate may not fit so well. Therefore enzymes have an upper limit of temperature that they can work at. Above this temperature, the enzyme molecule starts to get damaged (denatured) and cannot do its job as well, so the reaction slows down.
The human body has a constant temperature of approximately 37º Centigrade (C). Is this, the optimum temperature for human enzymes to work at? Above a certain temperature enzymes begin to distort and work less well, for example it is thought that if you heat most enzymes above 40º C they start to distort. If an enzyme is heated over about 70º C they change shape so much they can never work again. This is denaturing.
As mentioned the enzyme used for this experiment is amylase. Amylase is produced in the salivary glands and pancreas to aid the chemical digestion of food. Digestion means the breakdown of large, insoluble food molecules into
