Enzyme Catalase: Temperature and Reaction Rate

Research Question: How does temperature affect the rate at which the enzyme catalase works

Theory:

The focus point for this experiment was enzymes. An enzyme is a globular protein which increases the rate of a biochemical reaction. Each enzyme has a specific substrate, which acts a reactant in a biochemical reaction. There are many different things which can affect an enzyme. This could be the temperature, the pH value, and the substrate concentration. Each enzyme has an optimum temperature, pH range, and concentration, which means that when they are at this stage, they are most effective. If they move too far from their optimum states it will result in a diminished rate of reaction, or denaturization, meaning that the enzymes ceases its functions.

Catalase is an enzyme found in living cells, it breaks down it’s substrate; hydrogen peroxide, which is also produced in living cells to form water and. Potatoes for example contain catalase, and therefore, when put in a hydrogen peroxide solution with detergent, it creates oxygen bubbles formed by detergent. You can then see how quickly the catalase is working by looking at the height of the foam, which indicates how much oxygen had been created.

Hypothesis:

We wanted to investigate the rate of reaction of catalase, based on temperature. To do this we would have to measure the height of the foam produced by the enzyme, while in hydrogen peroxide solution with liquid detergent, at different temperatures. The higher the foam, the higher rate of reaction.