Enzymes are a type of catalyst that speed up reactions in the body. It allows the digestive system to speed up reactions that would otherwise have taken much longer and taken up more energy to execute, that could lead to a decrease of energy. Enzymes also break down poisonous chemicals made by the reactions of cells. It does so by separating toxins into harmless substances, a characteristic that makes enzymes vital for living organisms. For example, hydrogen peroxide (2H2O2) is a toxic byproduct of cellular respiration, but it is broken down by the enzymes into 2H20 and O2, two harmless substances, water and oxygen. In Part A of this experiment, a small piece of liver was added to two milliliters of hydrogen peroxide. When the liver was added, …show more content…
The acidic solution had a pH of 3 and bubbled quickly, judged to be a five out of five. The solution was exothermic, meaning it gave off heat. The basic solution, which contained the pH of ten, had a reaction rate of four out of five; the solution bubbled moderately fast, but did not emit or absorb heat, and therefore was neither exothermic nor endothermic. Lastly the neutral solution, was observed to have a reaction rate of four out of five, with moderately large bubbles, and was neither endothermic nor exothermic, just as the basic solution. It is concluded that acidic solutions that are added to catalase result in smaller and slower reactions because enzymes need a very specific environment in order to function. It was concluded that basic solutions, containing a higher pH, have larger and faster reaction rates, and that neutral solutions have a medium reaction rate, which proves to be the best environment, pH-wise for a quick but constant reaction. This is very important for enzymes because the reactions themselves should not cause detrimental effects within the