I am investigating how temperature influences the break down of starch into sugar using the enzyme amylase.

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Coursework        Investigating Factors that Influence the         1st October 2002

        Break Down Of Starch using Amylase

 

Aim: -        I am investigating how temperature influences the break down of starch into sugar using the enzyme amylase.

Introduction: -          If many simple sugars join together, a very large molecule called a polysaccharide is formed. Some polysaccharide molecules contain thousands of sugar molecules joined together in a long chain. Starch is a polysaccharide made up of glucose molecules.

         

 

The experiments I shall be conducting will breakdown starch into maltose by using amylase; the maltose will then be broke down by the enzyme maltase into glucose.

  Variables are conditions that you can adjust during the experiment. Variables are factors that can affect the rate of a reaction.

  Examples of variables are temperature, surface area, PH level and concentration.

  Temperature may affect the breakdown of starch; in most experiments temperature increases the rate of reaction due to the energy being added to the particles present. However, in this experiment a large increase in the temperature will cause the enzyme to denature and the rate of reaction to dramatically decrease.

  Surface Area may affect the breakdown of starch; in most experiments a larger surface area increases the rate of reaction due to there being a larger opportunity for particles to collide. If the surface area of the enzyme amylase was increased, the reaction may be speeded up due to there being more chance of a starch molecule colliding with the larger surfaced enzyme.

  Concentration may affect the breakdown of starch; in most experiments a stronger concentration increases the rate of reaction due to there being a larger opportunity for particles to collide. If the concentration of enzyme was increased, the reaction may speed up due to there being a greater chance of collisions.

  I shall be investigating how temperature affects the break down of starch into sugars using amylase. I have chosen temperature because it is simple to control and observe with the right equipment. E.g. a water bath.

  In general an increase in temperature results in an increase in the rate of reaction due to the particles in the reaction being given energy through the heat causing movement and collisions.

 

  My hypothesis is that as the variable i.e. the temperature, of the enzyme Amylase and the Starch increases, the rate of break down shall speed up. This is because the more energy i.e. heat, added to the particles, the quicker the particles will move. If the enzyme is moving quickly it can collide with the starch more frequently and break it down quicker. Basically, the higher the temperature gets, the quicker collisions in the substance occur between starch and amylase.

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  However, as the enzyme reaches about 40°C in the substance, the break down rate shall begin to decrease due to the enzyme denaturing. This process is when the enzyme reaches a certain temperature at which its structure cannot cope with and begins to break down itself. Therefore I predict that the rate of reaction or breakdown will increase initially as the particles have more energy, then as the enzyme reaches the upper boundary of it’s optimum rate it will begin to denature and the rate shall decrease and finally stop. Producing the prediction graph shown below.

I ...

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