Lab Report On Catalase And Temperature

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Catalase and Temperature

Introduction

Background: Enzymes are catalysts which help reactions inside of organisms such as cells. Many different types of enzymes are used to catalyze different types of reactions. Enzymes are able to catalyze reactions that normally wouldn’t be possible under the specific circumstances in the cell such as the pressure or temperature of the cell. The way an enzyme works is it binds with the active site of a substrate and creates an enzyme substrate complex. The enzyme then breaks apart the bonds in a substrate and then leaves unchanged after the reaction. The enzyme this lab will be looking at today is the catalase enzyme. Catalase is found among almost all living organisms. The catalase which this lab uses will be a 1% catalase solution but an example of natural catalase is the catalase found in the liver. Catalase reacts with hydrogen peroxide, binding onto it and breaking it down into the less toxic water and oxygen. The equation for this reaction is the following:
2 H2O2 = 2 H20 + 2 O2
This experiment will use 1% catalase solution and 3% hydrogen peroxide solution, both diluted into water so the reaction slows down. Temperature will be controlled in this experiment to change the reaction speed of the enzyme and the substrate, this is what the experiment is looking at. The effect of the temperature will be determined by how much gas is released in two minutes, which will change the pressure inside the test tube and will be measured by a gas

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