The aim of the experiment is to see whether temperature affects the rate of the enzyme breakdown.

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Catalyse and Hydrogen Peroxide

Aim

The aim of the experiment is to see whether temperature affects the rate of the enzyme breakdown.

  Enzymes are special protein cells which break down nutrients and without them; there wouldn’t be any existence of living organisms. We produce enzymes in certain organs of our bodies and they have special properties due to that firstly they’re catalysts meaning they speed up reactions; secondly there are different types of enzymes. Different enzymes break down different things such as protease breaking down the protein from the consumed meats or carbohydrase that breaks down the carbohydrates in the sugary foods we consume. In the liver, we produce a specific enzyme called catalyse and this enzyme has a unique ability to react with a waste product called hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and produces oxygen and water:

Hydrogen Peroxide + Catalyse → Oxygen + Water

2H202 =02+2H20

This reaction actually takes on the heme groups which are called the active sites and basically the heme contains the oxygen making free space whilst the amino acids inside the catalyse contain the hydrogen. I want to know is that if the temperature changes, does it affects the reaction rate of enzymes; hi or low? From the preliminary work, I’ve seen the results were that if the temperature was around 20˚C or less, the production of oxygen would decrease and the same applied from 40˚C plus and the most interesting part is that at 80˚C, no oxygen was produced. I also think that I should try lower temperatures such as 10˚C and 20˚C to make my experiment more interesting to look at and to see what would happen below 20˚C like 60˚C, 70˚C and 80˚C.

Here is the table to show the results

  The equipment that will be used is as followed:

Water baths- I have limited amounts of water baths but each are set at different temperatures to store the liver in. Each water bath would range from 0˚C to 50˚C

Per Trial

Liver (from lamb) - for each trial, there will be given 1g (measured accurately) of sheep’s liver.

Bung &Tubing- This is used to collect the full amount oxygen produced and is measured.

Stop clock- Used to time how much oxygen is produced in X amount of seconds.

Clingfilm- Used to stop heat loss of the liver.

100ml conical flask-This is used to store the sheep’s liver and where the reaction’s going to take place.

Measuring cylinder-This is used to measure out the H2O2.

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3% Hydrogen Peroxide-This reactant needs to be measured out before being placed in the conical flask.

Thermometer- Used to check the temperature of the water baths.

The experiment reflects enzymes and how they work at certain temperatures and if I see that certain temperatures cause enzymes to malfunction, I could try to modify these temperatures so the enzymes would be able to work more efficiently.

  I did a practical so I can prove that there is oxygen being produced. I took off the gas syringe and put the tubing in a second conical flask which is empty. ...

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