Punctuated equilibrium

The purpose of this lab is to solve for the equilibrium constant of a reaction between iron (iii) ions and thiocyanate ions. The lab is divided into two parts: one section recording absorbance of reference solutions and the other part for the absorbance of test solutions. The reference solutions were created through the mixing of excess iron (iii) nitrate (Fe(NO3)3) with a known concentration of potassium thiocyanate (KSCN) in order to push the reaction to completion; the initial concentration…

In this lab, seven test tubes containing solutions in equilibrium had different stresses added to them to examine the balance in each example. The purpose of the experiment was to indentify the details of shifting in equilibrium reactions and determine how the adding of a stress can affect a reaction. A chemical reaction that is in equilibrium is reversible, where a reactants can create products and products can go back to products. Equilibrium is reached when the rate of a forward reaction is…

Introduction: All organisms depend on the action of enzymes to carry out the reactions of life. According to the text in Campbell Biology, enzymes are biological catalysts. These globular proteins speed the rate at which metabolic processes occur by lowering the activation energy or the energy barrier required to transform reactants to products. Each enzyme is specific, each containing active sites destined for a substrate. Substrates are the reactants or starting materials of chemical…

Enzymes are a biological catalyst. When a chemical reaction is taking place the enzyme works to lower the activation energy of a reaction. The activation energy is, the amount of energy that is required in order for a reaction to take place. Enzymes bind to reactant molecules. The enzymes hold these molecules in a way that makes the processes of the chemical bond-breaking and bond-forming take place more readily. A reaction can be either energy-releasing or energy-absorbing. Enzymes have no…

A chemical reaction’s rate is described by the amount of product formed. Substances that increase that rate are called catalysts. Catalysts are often proteins called enzymes. Enzymes change the pathway of the reaction between the products and the product. However, enzymes don’t alter the starting or ending points. Enzymes are effective by reducing the activation energy. The enzyme tyrosinase is located in melanocytes. These are cells that produce the pigment melanin. Melanin gives skin, eyes,…

this project the aim is to determine the equilibrium constant (Kc) of a weak base when it reacts with a weak acid. The chemicals I wish to determine the equilibrium constant for are, Ethanoic acid (CH3COOH) and Propanol (C3H7OH). To accomplish this, the first question we must ask is, “what is an equilibrium constant and how is it determined”? There are 2 different types of equilibrium. The first, and the type we shall be using is known as homogeneous equilibrium which has everything present in…

The role of enzymes play a large role in the survival of organisms through catalysis of reactions that keep them alive and functioning. The purpose of this experiment was to measure reaction activity over time and how substrate concentration affects their activity level. A supernatant was made through the dilution of blended potato extract. Then the supernatant was mixed with catechol and the reaction rate was measured in units of absorbance through a spectrophotometer every 30 seconds for ten…

container will do absolutely nothing to the system, as it is a solid and is not taken into account when calculating the equilibrium constant. Increasing the pressure by adding argon gas will not affect the system. First of all, argon is an inert gas, which means it will not react with anything involved in this reaction. Since it does not react, it cannot affect the equilibrium constant. Increasing the pressure by decreasing the volume of the container will change the system by causing more…

Reservoir Systems consist of a hollow inner core and a polymer membrane, there to control the rate of drug diffusion. Drug diffusion across the membrane is rate limited and controls general drug release rate (Bajpai et al. 2008). For reservoir systems drug release normally remains steady resulting in a zero order profile (Raval, Parikh and Engineer, 2010). Another technology is called the Multiparticulate drug delivery system which consists of microencapsulated granules/beads containing drug…

Introduction Enzymes are specialized proteins that act as catalysts. Enzymes are a key part of many biological processes because they are capable of lowering the activation energy of a chemical reaction. By lowering the activation energy enzymes are able to speed up reactions allowing for multiple chemical processes to occur at a faster rate in many living organisms. Enzymes work by binding to specific molecules called substrates. The enzyme observed in this experiment was amylase and its…