Investigating the effect of PH on the activity of the enzyme catalase.

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Investigating the effect of PH on the activity of the enzyme catalase.

Hydrogen Peroxide will be the source of substrate, and the catalase enzyme breaking down the hydrogen peroxide will be from potato’s. The products formed when H202   is broken down will be water and oxygen.
The word equation and balanced equation for the reaction would be:                                

                                (catalyse)
Hydrogen Peroxide  
   Water + Oxygen    

2H20 2    2H20 + 02                                                       

 Hydrogen Peroxide bond -

Catalase

Catalase is a common  found in all living organisms. Its function is to catalyze the decomposition of  to  and . Catalase has one of the highest turnover rates of all enzymes; one molecule of catalase can convert millions of molecules of hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen per second. The optimum  for catalase is around neutral (pH 7.0). It is a protein of four polypeptide chains, each over 500 amino acids long.
All
 use catalase in every , its highest concentration is mainly in the . Catalase is also present among , but not so much , however there are some species which have been found to produce the enzyme when growing in an environment with a low pH and warm temperatures.                                                               It can also be used in the food industry for removing  from  prior to making  Another use is in , where it prevents food from . Its also used in the  industry, removing hydrogen peroxide from fabrics to make sure the material is peroxide-free. Recently, they have used catalase to be used in several mask treatments which combine the enzyme with hydrogen peroxide on the face with the intent of increasing cellular oxygenation in the upper layers of the .

Hydrogen Peroxide
H
2O2 is a powerful oxidizing agent and is potentially damaging to cells. By preventing excessive H2O2 to build up the enzyme catalase allows important cellular processes which produce H2O2 as a byproduct of water and oxygen to take place safely.
It is a very pale blue liquid which appears colorless in a dilute solution, slightly more
 than water as it is a weak . It has strong  properties and is therefore a powerful  that is mostly used for bleaching paper, and can also be found in . The oxidizing capacity of hydrogen peroxide is so strong that the chemical is considered a highly reactive oxygen species.
Above roughly 70% concentrations, hydrogen peroxide can give off vapor that can detonate above 343 K (Kelvin) at normal atmospheric pressure. This can then cause a boiling liquid expanding vapor explosion of the remaining liquid.
 of hydrogen peroxide at normal pressures is therefore highly dangerous.

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Our aim in this investigation is to found out how different PH’s affect the catalase rate of activity. To find out how the different pHs work, we will be measuring how much oxygen has been released, this will give us an indicator as to which pH catalase works best with. Measuring the rate at which oxygen is evolved reflects the activity of enzyme catalase.

Factors affecting enzymes.

During our experiment we will be keeping one independent variable which will be pH. The rest of the factors will be controlled variables, these being temperature, concentration of substrate and ...

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