Investigatethe effect of concentration on the rate of enzyme catalysed reaction.

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Aim: To investigate the effect of concentration on the rate of enzyme catalysed reaction.

        To investigate the effect of concentration on the rate of enzyme catalysed reaction I must know all the factors that affect it in order to investigate in this.

Here are all the factors:

Temperature – Enzyme like it warm but not too hot. Enzymes are biological catalysts, which speed up chemical reactions. They work most efficiently at the optimum point (37°C). If they are below 37°C they will work slower. If the temperature goes over 45°C they will be denatured due to the high heat.

PH – The pH affects the activity of enzymes. It depends on what solution there surrounded in. Each enzyme works most efficiently at a certain degree of acidity or alkalinity. Example – the enzymes in our stomach (protease) are surrounded by hydrochloric acid at a pH of 2 (strong acid), which is the condition it works most efficiently at.

Concentration – If the solution is made more concentrated it means it contains more particles and therefore speed up a reaction. If the solution has a weak concentration it will have less particles and therefore a slow reaction will occur.

        All enzymes are biological catalysts. Living organisms have thousands of chemical reactions going on inside them. Obviously the quicker the reaction the better it is and it’s important that the temperature is at a correct level to speed them up. If the temperature is high enough, above 45°C they will be denatured because enzymes are living organisms and too much heat has an affect on them.

        Enzymes do all sorts of different processes. Each one is designed to do a specific job.

Example – they break down food.

Protein      protease        amino acid

Starch    carbohydrase     Glucose

Lipids        Lipase          Fatty acids + Glycerol

These enzymes breakdown these foods. The acidity and alkalinity depends on their rate of reaction. Enzymes do different jobs and because of that they work in different conditions. The protease enzyme inside our stomach works most efficiently in acid of a pH of 2.

        For my task I am going to use hydrogen peroxide (H202) and yeast (enzyme). These two will be reacted together and I will collect the amount of oxygen produced from the reaction. Hydrogen peroxide will react with the yeast to form a chemical reaction. The yeast is the enzyme. I will time the reaction for two minutes and collect the amount of gas produced in a measuring cylinder.

        I will need to draw a detailed diagram of the experiment and from this I will be able to set up the experiment and will know the apparatus needed.

        To do this investigation I must choose one factor to vary and keep the other factors constant, so it will be a fair test. I have decided to vary the hydrogen peroxide concentration. The temperature will remain constant at room temperature (25°C). The pH of the hydrogen peroxide will be constant. The yeast concentration will also have to be constant.

Apparatus list

∗ Test tube with delivery tube

∗ Test tube rack

∗ 5ml syringe

∗ Trough

∗ Gas cylinder

∗ Beakers

∗ Needle

∗ Rubber bung

∗ Beehive

∗ Stopwatch

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Diagram 

 

Rubber bung

                                                                                                  Gas cylinder

                    Delivery tube

                                      Oxygen bubbles

        Beehive

            ...

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