Investigation to see how total surface area is related to oxygen given off.

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Tom Brown                                                        May 2003

10D                                                                

Investigation to see how total surface area is related to oxygen given off

I will use the following method to obtain the results for my experiment.

I will put a certain number of potato cubes into a conical flask. I will then plug the flask with a bung, which has an attached delivery tube. Next I will pour 30cm³ of Hydrogen Peroxide into the flask. The Hydrogen Peroxide will react with the enzyme in the potato, called catalyse, to create oxygen. I will wait for an initial burst of bubbles, which is the air being displaced from the conical flask and should not be recorded. After the first bubbles have gone I will put the tube into a measuring cylinder full of water. This cylinder will be submerged in a tub of water. When oxygen comes through the tube it will displace the oxygen in the cylinder giving me an accurate reading of how much oxygen has been produced in the experiment.

I will be very careful when conducting the experiment. I will wear safety goggles at all times to protect my eyes from damage. I will handle the Hydrogen Peroxide very carefully so I do not harm others or myself. When using the knife to cut the potatoes I will be very careful so I will not hurt others or myself.

Fair Testing

To keep my test fair I will only change one aspect of the experiment each time. I will keep the following parts of my experiment constant

  • Temperature
  • Concentration of Hydrogen Peroxide
  • Time the Experiment lasts
  • Surface area of individual Potato cubes
  • Volume of Hydrogen Peroxide
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I will change the number of potato cubes used so I will increase the total surface area of potato used in the experiment as well as there being more catalyse for the Hydrogen Peroxide to react with. The cubes I will are 1cm x 1cm x 1cm. This gives a total Surface area of 6cm². However since one of the sides is touching the bottom of the glass the total Surface Area is actually 5cm².

I will now explain why I am keeping some aspects of my experiment constant.

Temperature:

When you increase the temperature you increase ...

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