Catalyse Enzyme Lab – No Sources and No Citation Style Needed for this Assignment

 Catalase Enzyme Lab 

How do living cells interact with the environment around them? In the human body, there are a multitude of different protein molecules essential for survival. All living things possess Catalysts, or substances within them that speed up chemical reactions and processes. One group of proteins called Enzymes are molecules that enable the chemical reactions that occur in all living things on earth and are constantly at work digesting food, metabolizing energy, assembling molecules, and fighting off infections. Enzymes act as catalysts to speed up the rate of reactions. Without enzymes, these important biological reactions would not occur at a rate fast enough to keep us alive. Another important fact about enzymes is that they are very specific about the particular reaction that they can catalyze. The reason they are so specific is that they all have a particular shape and will only fit with certain substrate molecules. Also, enzymes are not used up in a reaction and can be used over and over again. 

Catalase is a normally occurring enzyme found in both plant and animal tissues. The purpose of this enzyme is to destroy toxic substances that invade cellular tissue. In this lab, we will use the enzyme catalase that has been extracted from potatoes. The substrate molecule is hydrogen peroxide(H₂O₂). Catalase will act upon this substrate and speed up the break down or decomposition of hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen several thousand times quick than it would normally do on its own. The reaction is as follows: 

2 H₂O₂  2 H₂O + O₂ 

This lab will also examine the effect of temperature and pH on this enzymatic process.

Objectives: 

• To measure the effects of changes in temperature, pH, and enzyme concentration on reaction rates in an enzyme / substrate catalyst reaction.
• Explain how environmental factors affect the rate of enzyme-catalyzed reactions.

Materials: 

1 Potato

Hydrogen Peroxide %3  

Distilled Water 

Vinegar solution (acid)

Ammonia Solution (base)

Small glass beaker or cup

Hot Plate

Procedure: Part 1: Observe Normal Catalase Reaction 

1. Place potato cube into small cup. 
2. Pour enough hydrogen peroxide into the cup so that potato is submerged 
3. Wait one minute and record the height in cm of the bubbles.  
4. Wait two minutes and record the height in cm of the bubbles.  
5. Wait five minutes and record the height in cm of the bubbles.  
6. Rate how rapidly the solution bubbles on a scale of 0-5 at each time interval

(0=no reaction, 1=slow, 5= very fast)

Part 2: Effect of Temperature on Enzyme Activity 

1. Label one small cup for each: hot, cold, & room temperature. 
2. Keep one potato cube raw, Place another in freezer for 30 minutes & boil another in hot water for at least five minutes. 
3. Place boiled potato cube into small cup labeled hot, place frozen potato cube  into small cup labeled cold, and place potato cube room temperature into small cup labeled room temperature.
4. Pour enough hydrogen peroxide into the cup so that potato is submerged 
5. Wait one minute and record the height in cm of the bubbles.  
6. Wait two minutes and record the height in cm of the bubbles.  
7. Wait five minutes and record the height in cm of the bubbles.  
8. Rate how rapidly the solution bubbles on a scale of 0-5 at each time interval

(0=no reaction, 1=slow, 5= very fast)

Part 3: Effect of pH on Enzyme Activity 

     1. Label one small cup for each: vinegar, ammonia, & distilled water.  

     2. Place raw potato cube into each small cup labeled.

     3. Pour vinegar into vinegar cup, ammonia into ammonia cup & distilled water into distilled cup until potato cube is submerged.

     4. Pour equal parts of hydrogen peroxide solution into the cup so that potato is totally submerged

     3. Wait one minute and record the height in cm of the bubbles.  

     4. Wait two minutes and record the height in cm of the bubbles.  

     5. Wait five minutes and record the height in cm of the bubbles.  

     6. Rate how rapidly the solution bubbles on a scale of 0-5 at each time interval

     7. (0=no reaction, 1=slow, 5= very fast)

Graphs: Make graphs of the data: one for the effect of temperature on enzyme activity and another for the effect of pH on enzyme activity.   

Data Tables:

Part 1: Normal Catalase Reaction

Observation Notes:

Part 2: Effect of Temperature on Enzyme Activity 

Observation Notes:

Part 3: Effect of pH on Enzyme Activity 

Observation Notes:

Analysis

Analyze your data collected. What observations did you see? 

Conclusion

Was your hypothesis correct or was not correct?  What were the variables that affected the data collected? If there were any errors or factors what would you change next time?

Conclusion Questions: 

1. What is a catalyst? What is the catalyst in this experiment? 
2. What is an enzyme? Where does the enzyme come from in this experiment? 
3. Illustrate the specific substrate-enzyme reaction that occurred in this lab. Be sure to label the potato, H₂O₂, and the breakdown of the H₂O₂. 
4. Why is the relationship between an enzyme and its substrate compared to a lock and key?
5. What effect did heat have on the enzyme activity? What effect did cold have? 
6. What is the optimal temperature for enzyme activity? Why? 

7.   Changes in temperature or pH can change an enzymes shape. Why will an enzyme    

      no longer work if it loses its shape?

8.   What effect did acid have on the enzyme activity? What effect did the base have? 

9.   What is the optimal pH for enzyme activity? Why? 

10.  How does this experiment can apply to the real world?  Offer an example! 

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