Investigation into the effect on the rate of reaction of the breakdown of hydrogen peroxide caused by changing enzyme concentration.

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Coursework Plan - Investigation into the effect on the rate of reaction of the breakdown of hydrogen peroxide caused by changing enzyme concentration

Background Knowledge

Hydrogen peroxide is a strong oxidising agent, and a very unstable bleaching agent, which breaks down by itself if left.

Although a bi product of some metabolic reactions, hydrogen peroxide is also a metabolic poison. The speed at which it breaks down by itself is too slow when it is in the human body, because hydrogen peroxide poisons chemical reactions, so the enzyme catalase catalyses its breakdown, forming the bi products water and oxygen.

The basic structural formula of an amino acid is:

All amino acids have the same basic structure. It is the R-group that varies and gives the amino acid its nature. Amino acids join together to make a long chain of amino acids;

This is the primary structure of a protein; it is not a functioning protein until it folds up into a tertiary structure, however, the sequence of amino acids in the polypeptide chain tells us the total number of amino acids, and what kind they are. There is always a