Enzyme Activity and the Decomposition of Hydrogen Peroxide.

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Stephanie Glenny 11LD

Enzyme Activity and the Decomposition of Hydrogen Peroxide

Introduction

We are going to investigate how the rate of reaction changes as the volume of hydrogen peroxide goes down and the volume of water goes up and the solution will be less concentrated each time due to the amount of water diluting it.

The formula for Hydrogen Peroxide H2O2.  Hydrogen Peroxide is a toxic liquid produced in the liver, and is poisonous to the human body.  If the hydrogen peroxide levels build up within the body it is extremely dangerous to the person’s health.  Because the substance is a poison it has to be broken down.  When it is broken down naturally it becomes H20+O2, but when a catalyst is used the formula turns into 2H2O         2H2O+O2 to make it balanced.  A catalyst is used to make the reaction speed up.  This is because the reaction to remove the hydrogen peroxide would take too long naturally and so more hydrogen peroxide builds up before it can be broken down.

 The biological catalyst is called an enzyme. Enzymes are large proteins that speed up chemical reactions.  It is made up of amino acids which form an active site, where the reaction takes place.

Preliminary Results

We firstly did a few tests so we could get the right rate and mixture of hydrogen peroxide and water.

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We started with 50 cm3 and 0cm3 of water.  We discovered that the reaction happened to fast so we tried 45cm3 and 5cm3 of water.  We did all of our preliminary results accurately, fairly and safely.

In the end we decided to do the ratio 25/25.

Prediction

I think that the more concentrated and smaller amount of hydrogen peroxide there is I think that there will be less oxygen released.

Equipment

  • Conical flask
  • Bath
  • Bung and delivery tube
  • 2x glass measuring cylinders
  • 10ml yeast (per experiment)
  • Hydrogen peroxide (amount dependent on experiment)
  • Test tube

Diagram

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