Investigate the effect of temperature on the enzyme Catalase.

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PLANNING

AIM:

The aim of my experiment is to investigate the effect of temperature on the enzyme Catalase.

PREDICTIONS:

        I Predict using my scientific knowledge that as I raise the temperature of the hydrogen peroxide, the reaction of the enzyme will get greater until it gets to 40oC where it will start to decrease. I predict this because enzymes are designed to react best at the body temperatures of the animals to which they belong. For humans this is 37oC. Catalysts are used to speed up biochemical reactions in the body.

        Enzymes are biological catalysts made of proteins. They have an optimum temperature and pH at which they work fastest. But they can be denatured by high temperature. The enzyme is unchanged by the reaction, and each enzyme is specific to one reaction. The “collision theory” has been developed to explain this temperature affect.

        The collision theory basically states for a bimolecular reaction to occur, molecules must:

  1. Collide with one another to initiate a reaction.
  2. Collide with a sufficient amount of energy.
  3. Collide in a specific orientation.
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Catalase serves to protect the cell from the toxic effects of hydrogen peroxide by catalyzing its decomposition into molecular oxygen and water without the production of free radicals (an atom or group of atoms with an unpaired electron, unusually reactive and are capable of causing a wide range of biological damage).

Hydrogen Peroxide (2H2O2) + Catalase = Oxygen + Water

METHOD:

EQUIPMENT LIST:

1x Water Bath

2x Boiling Tubes

1x Conical Flask

1x 5ml glass vial

1x Measuring cylinder

2x Beakers

1x Ice cream tub (containing water)

1x Stop clock

at least 100ml Hydrogen Peroxide

at ...

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