All throughout life, chemical reactions occur around us. It is not noticed by many, however it is definitely present. These reactions include producing poisonous substances throughout the human body. Due to this, cells use enzymes to break them down into harmless substances. Enzymes increase reaction rate and decrease activation energy, which means that enzymes require less time and energy for a reaction to occur. Catalysts, also known as enzymes, help the human body chew and digest food much faster and easier than it would be without catalysts. In the liver, there is an enzyme called catalase, which breaks down hydrogen peroxide, a harmful chemical, into water and oxygen. The reaction looks like this: 2H2O2 ----> 2H2O + O2. When this occurs, …show more content…
There is a certain temperature for each organism in which the enzymes work the best, where it is neither too basic or acidic. This temperature can be described as optimum temperature. When catalase reaches its optimum temperature it would release the most oxygen, therefore increasing the pressure in the test tube. The greater the pressure change, the faster the reaction. Variables Independent- Temperature (C) Dependent- the atmospheric pressure (amount of gas pressure released/effect on the catalase activity) Control- Amount of Hydrogen peroxide, mass of liver, 600 mL beaker, Constants- Liver from the same package, weighing scale, test tubes Hypothesis If the temperature is increased, then the kPa will increase because more Oxygen will be released in the test tube and increase the pressure, however, once it passes the optimum temperature, it will get too hot and damage the enzyme which will decrease the release of oxygen and the kPa. Materials 1 x Laptop computer 1 x Vernier Labquest Mini 1 x Vernier gas Pressure sensor 4 x Test tubes and Test tube holder 10-ml Graduated cylinder 40-ml 3% Hydrogen Peroxide …show more content…
The scientists had to put 4 test tubes in different temperatures of water; 0-5 C, 20-25 C, 35-40 C, and 75-80 C. In each test tube the same amount of liver and Hydrogen Peroxide was put in.Then the kPa was noted every 15 seconds for 3 minutes to see the difference in catalase activity in different temperatures. The hypothesis was predicting that when the temperature increases, the kPa increases. However, at some point, the temperature will be too high and damage the enzymes and their ability to react. Throughout the experiment, the kPa increased as the temperature and time increased. However at 75-80 C or 111.41 kPa when it reached the optimum point, the temperature at which the enzyme is at its maximum activity, it started decreasing due to the enzymes not function well. As the temperature increased, the enzymes could not break down anymore substances due to the heat which slowed down the reaction. It could even be seen it did not foam or bubble as much as the previous ones. In conclusion, enzymes do cause reactions to go faster as the temperature increases however, once it has passed the optimum point, the reaction rate starts decreasing. Even though different temperatures can be handled by enzymes, if it is too extreme, the rate of the reaction will definitely slow as it will harm the