Enzyme Lab Report

Background: A catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing permanent chemical change. The most common catalysts in biological systems are special proteins called enzymes. Enzymes are long chains of amino acids that have taken a very specific three-dimensional shape called a globular shape. This specific shape contains an area that is designed to match a specific molecule. The substance that an enzyme operates on is known as its substrate. Almost all metabolic reactions in organisms are catalyzed by enzymes. Many of these reactions occur in specific sequences and are called metabolic or biochemical pathways. Enzymes can be denatured, unfolding of the enzyme, by a number of factors. They can be denatured by extreme concentration, heat, or pH levels. This will cause the enzyme to no longer be functional since the shape of the active site will be destroyed. …show more content…
Its function is to catalyze the breakdown of hydrogen peroxide, which is a toxic byproduct of many metabolic reactions, into harmless water and oxygen. Hydrogen peroxide is a powerful oxidizing agent that is produced from aerobic metabolism. It will quickly destroy essential biomolecules in the cells that would eventually result in cell damage or cell death. Catalase plays an important role in regulating hydrogen peroxide in plants because catalase activity affects the concentration of H2O2. Catalase is an antioxidant enzyme made up of polypeptides and iron.

Materials:
Water bin filled ¾ of the way full (distilled)
3 Graduated cylinders: 10 mL (2), 25 mL
5 containers of potato catalase with different temperatures
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