Investigation into the effect of temperature on the activity of the enzyme urease.
Investigation into the effect of temperature on the activity of the enzyme urease
Urea + Urease → Ammonium Carbonate
The aim of this experiment is to investigate the affect of different temperatures on the rate of activity of the enzyme urease.
I will achieve this by heating 5 solutions to different temperatures. They will be heated in a water bath and left for approximately 40 minutes. After this time, acid will be added to neutralize the solution and the activity of the enzyme will be measured via the volume of acid added.
My predication is that as I increase the temperature of the solutions, the speed in which the reaction takes place, and amount of products produced will increase. However, I predict that at a high temperature the enzymes will denature and activity will cease. This is because of the following reasons. Firstly, at a high temperature, molecules are given more kinetic energy. In a reaction, this results in an increase in collisions and an increase in the amount that are actually effective. The same applies with enzymes. At a higher temperature the substrate and enzyme molecules have more kinetic energy and therefore have more collisions with the active site will occur. This also happens in reverse. Cooler temperatures have an adverse effect on the molecules and the activity is slowed. At very low temps, the activity may even be stopped completely. At high temperatures, enzymes denature. This is because the heat may alter the shape of the enzyme or break bonds within the molecule, which would deform the shape of the active site. When this occurs, the substrate molecule will no longer bind with the active site halting activity. I predict this temperature will be around 60˚C.
This is a preview of the whole essay
Teacher Reviews
Here's what a teacher thought of this essay
**Plan only. This is a very minimal plan which would be awarded little credit under current marking guidelines. To improve It does not inspire confidence in a plan when the first vital formula is incorrect. The candidate must check these carefully before submission. There is some discussion of the background biological theory to this investigation but there is a lack of suitably selected references to assist in the planning and execution of the investigation. These should be beyond those most readily to hand textbooks and should be used effectively to provide some context for the investigation. The references should be cited appropriately. A pilot experiment was carried out. The methodology for this as well as the results should be included as in some mark schemes this is expected and only the lower tier of marks is awarded if evidence of this is not included. There needs to be more discussion on the key variables in the experiment. This is a key part of experimental planning. This can often best be achieved by constructing a table with the name of the variable in the first column, how it is to be controlled in the second column and the effect on the experiment if tit is not controlled well in the third column. The method lacks some key information such as the strength and source of the urease. The risk assessment would be considered unsatisfactory under some the newest marking guidelines since it lacks a lot of key information. The headings for the results table need all units to be present and it would be expected that a candidate would plan for some replicates and a numerical or statistical method of analyzing the results.
