The temperature at which enzyme activity is most effective is approximately at 40℃. This result was expected as this trial temperature was closest to internal body temperature, 38℃, and as catalase is present in all body organs (T. Fouad, Antioxidants).
Temperature affects chemical reactions by increasing the kinetic motion of molecules and changing the rate of collisions between them. In lower temperatures, kinetic motion is decreased and there are not enough collisions between the molecules for enzyme activity to be maximized. However, as temperature reaches above 40℃, the excessive motion of the enzyme begins to break the hydrogen bonds that are holding it’s 3D structure together (D. Fraser, 55) and the enzyme begins to denature. This …show more content…
Since the trial temperatures were decided before hand, there was some difficulty in getting the exact temperatures. The water was already boiling when the test tubes were placed in the beaker. As a result, in order to obtain the exact temperature of the trial, the test tubes were repeatedly taken out of the boiling water and put back in. On a molecular level, this meant that the enzyme was reverting from losing to gaining kinetic energy as it was taken in and out of the boiling water. This may have altered the nature of the enzyme used, as the hydrogen bonds may have begun to broken when it was placed in the boiling …show more content…
A ruler has a finite precision that limits its ability to account for small, measurement differences. Due to this, there is a degree of unreliability in the measurements made of the height of the oxygen bubbles. Furthermore, the height of the bubbles was measured from the bottom of the tube, where there was a groove in which the tube was resting in. This may have affected the results recorded as the ruler was not placed exactly parallel to the tube, and height was not measured directly from the bottom of the tube.
Improvements that can be made to this lab is to include longer tweezers in the substrate concentration part of this experiment in order to place the filter paper at the bottom of the test tube and to avoid smearing enzyme on the sides. In the temperature section of this experiment, a beaker of cold water should be used on the hot plate in order to achieve desired temperature without changing the nature of the enzyme. As well, instead of a rack, a test tube clamp and ring stand should be used with the ruler directly beside it in order to achieve the most accurate results as
Temperature affects chemical reactions by increasing the kinetic motion of molecules and changing the rate of collisions between them. In lower temperatures, kinetic motion is decreased and there are not enough collisions between the molecules for enzyme activity to be maximized. However, as temperature reaches above 40℃, the excessive motion of the enzyme begins to break the hydrogen bonds that are holding it’s 3D structure together (D. Fraser, 55) and the enzyme begins to denature. This …show more content…
Since the trial temperatures were decided before hand, there was some difficulty in getting the exact temperatures. The water was already boiling when the test tubes were placed in the beaker. As a result, in order to obtain the exact temperature of the trial, the test tubes were repeatedly taken out of the boiling water and put back in. On a molecular level, this meant that the enzyme was reverting from losing to gaining kinetic energy as it was taken in and out of the boiling water. This may have altered the nature of the enzyme used, as the hydrogen bonds may have begun to broken when it was placed in the boiling …show more content…
A ruler has a finite precision that limits its ability to account for small, measurement differences. Due to this, there is a degree of unreliability in the measurements made of the height of the oxygen bubbles. Furthermore, the height of the bubbles was measured from the bottom of the tube, where there was a groove in which the tube was resting in. This may have affected the results recorded as the ruler was not placed exactly parallel to the tube, and height was not measured directly from the bottom of the tube.
Improvements that can be made to this lab is to include longer tweezers in the substrate concentration part of this experiment in order to place the filter paper at the bottom of the test tube and to avoid smearing enzyme on the sides. In the temperature section of this experiment, a beaker of cold water should be used on the hot plate in order to achieve desired temperature without changing the nature of the enzyme. As well, instead of a rack, a test tube clamp and ring stand should be used with the ruler directly beside it in order to achieve the most accurate results as