To investigate how temperature affects the rate at which the enzyme Catalase breaks down hydrogen peroxide into oxygen and water

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Daniel Burnham 10B                                                 17th November 2001

Title:        The Catalase AT1

Aim:        To investigate how temperature affects the rate at which the enzyme Catalase breaks down hydrogen peroxide into oxygen and water.

Equation:                                     (Catalase)

Hydrogen peroxide→→→→→→→Oxygen + Water

    (Liver, potato)

To prove the reaction I will measure the amount of oxygen.

Hypothesis: I think that temperature will affect the rate at which Catalase breaks down Hydrogen Peroxide, so increasing the rate of reaction, more Oxygen is produced. I think that the higher the temperature (until a certain point) the greater the rate of reaction. Then after the optimum temp (the optimum temp is the temperature that the enzymes work best at. I think that the optimum temp will be 37.5°C, because this is the temperature of the human body) the rate of reaction will slow down again at the same speed it increased by.

My predicted graph will look like this:

 

                                               

        Rate of                        

       Reaction                                                                   y-axis – Rate of Reaction

                                                                                        x-axis - Temperature

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   Vol of O2                                                                     - Optimum temperature 

                            Temp

I am now going to use scientific theory to back up my hypothesis.

First of all I will use the ‘lock and key’ theory.

All enzymes are specific and there is one enzyme per function. The enzyme that I am investigating is called Catalase ...

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