The effect of substrate concentration on the activity of catalase on hydrogen peroxide.

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The effect of substrate concentration on the activity of catalase on hydrogen peroxide

Planning

Aim:

This is an experiment to examine how the concentration of the substrate hydrogen peroxide affects the rate of reaction of the enzyme catalase.

Hypothesis:

If substrate concentration is increased, the rate of reaction will increase at a directly proportional rate until the solution becomes saturated with the substrate hydrogen peroxide.

Adding anymore substrate after this saturation point is reached will make no difference.

As more substrate is added the rate of reaction increases steadily because more of the actives sites of the enzyme are being used which result in more reactions taking place. So the necessary amount of oxygen is produced more efficiently. Once the amount of substrate molecules added exceeds the number of active sites available then the rate of reaction will no longer increase. This is because the maximum number of reactions are occurring at once so any extra substrate molecules have to wait until some of the active sites become available.

Background Information

Enzymes:

All enzymes are globular proteins and within the cell they have two main roles.