Catalase Enzyme Lab

We were asked, "Where does the oxygen (O2) come from?" Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), the liver, or both? The oxygen comes from hydrogen peroxide. The substance in the liver interacts with the hydrogen peroxide. The hydrogen peroxide is altered when two substances are combined. The oxygen gas, as a product, comes from the hydrogen peroxide. Enzymes are big proteins that speed up the rate of a chemical reaction by moving as a catalyst. A catalyst provides the environment for the reaction to occur. Catalase is an enzyme in the liver that breaks down dangerous hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. When this reaction takes place, oxygen gas bubbles breakout and create foam/bubbles. For our procedure, we used 4 different experiments, one in each different test tube. In test …show more content…
In test tube 2 we put in hydrogen peroxide with liver in the test tube. It created a good amount of bubbles but did not overflow unless we shook the tube. In test tube 3 we put in the old liver, that was previously used in test tube 2, and hydrogen peroxide together. There was a good amount of bubbles because the hydrogen peroxide breaks down the liver into water and oxygen. The bubbles are a result of the oxygen being produced. In test tube 4 we put in new liver along with the old hydrogen peroxide, that was previously used in test tube 2, and there were nearly no bubbles because the hydrogen peroxide has been broken down into water and oxygen. Therefore, there is no more hydrogen peroxide to break down the liver and produce more water and oxygen. It's important to understand the principles of how enzymes work and function. The O2 doesn't come from the liver or both because liver contains an enzyme which is a form of peroxidases. Peroxidases break down peroxides such as H2O2 into water and oxygen. The O2 comes from the substrate H2O2 and the reaction is catalyzed by the liver enzyme