Catalase Lab essays

Catalase Lab essays The two purposes of this experiment were to see the effect of enzyme concentration on enzyme activity and to see the effect of temperature on enzyme activity. Enzymes are the most important part of living cells. Cells cant work or carry out there jobs without them. Enzymes act like catalysts in living cells. Catalysts speed up chemical reactions but remain unchanged by it. Enzymes are made of protein. Enzymes are sometimes called enzyme catalysts. There is a specific enzyme for every chemical reaction in the body. The chemicals that enzymes react in are called substrates. An enzyme performs its effect by combining temporarily with its substrate. As a result, a substrate becomes more reactive. The rate of the formation of products increases. Catalase is present in most cells and high concentrations are found in liver and blood cells. Hydrogen peroxide is formed as a by-product of cellular respiration in cells but water is the most common one. Hydrogen peroxide is toxic and would kill cells if it were not immediately broken down or removed. So toxic accumulation does not happen, catalase breaks down hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen. This reaction is very fast. Each catalase is capable of converting 5,000,000 molecules of hydrogen peroxide per minute at 0Â ° C. I predict that the increase in temperature will effect the enzyme activity by making it higher because our bodies function better at a high temperature so it makes sense that the enzymes that are in us would. I f my prediction is correct, I will have proved that enzyme activity is higher at higher temperatures. I also predict that more concentration of enzymes will result in higher enzyme activity. If my predictions are correct, I will have proved that enzyme activity is higher with higher enzyme concentration. See lab handout entitled Investigating the Enzyme, Catalase. ...