To find out if different concentration of hydrogen peroxide release different amounts of oxygen when in contact with catalase enzyme.

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Catalase activity experiment

Aim: to find out if different concentration of hydrogen peroxide release different amounts of oxygen when in contact with catalase enzyme.

Risk assessment: Hydrogen peroxide is corrosive and can therefore irritate the skin and damage the eye if it comes into contact with these. To prevent this extra caution must be taken to avoid contact with the skin and goggles should be worn while carrying out the experiments. Other sharp implements such as the scalpel used for cutting the potato can be dangerous if the sharp side comes into contact with the skin as it could cut it.

Prediction: I predict that as the concentration of the hydrogen peroxide decreases, so will the level of oxygen produced. I think this will happen due to collision theory. The collision theory is based on the principle that for a reaction to occur the reacting molecules must collide with each other with enough energy to react. The higher the temperature the more energy the molecules will have and the faster they will move, increasing the number of collisions and the chance that the collisions will lead to a reaction. In terms of enzymes, we are trying to get the substrate to collide with the enzyme and for the enzyme-catalysed reaction to take place. Again, the higher the temperature the more likely there will be effective collisions.

Fair test: The best way to ensure that the experiment is fair is to make sure that the conditions are exactly the same for all the different concentrations. Another way to ensure more accurate results is to take repeat readings and then average out the answers so the results are exact. The temperature of the water also affects how well the enzyme works. Enzymes cannot function as well in a temperature that is too hot or cold from their natural temperature. Using a thermometer is important to keep this temperature constant. The slices of potato should also be measured to be the same length so that amount of catalase stays constant. The slices if potato should also be measured to be the same length so that the amount of catalase stays constant throughout all of the different concentrations.

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Initial plan: We carried out a preliminary experiment so that we could see how we would carry out the final experiment and eliminate any possible problems for this. This is the results table that I drew up from this experiment:

It was then decided that more results needed to be taken, as just measuring the volume of gas produced at the end of each experiment was not sufficiently detailed. For the final experiment we decided to measure the amount of gas produced every thirty seconds instead, then calculate the average of these results to put into the graph.

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