Catalase Lab Report

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Effect of temperature on the enzyme and the amount of foam produced

Introduction
The enzyme used in this investigation was catalase, catalase is a type of protein called enzyme and the function of an enzyme is to catalyse(speed up) biochemical reaction. Catalysts such as enzymes are important in biochemical reaction, without them the reaction would occur too slow for an organism to survive. Catalase is present in most organisms which are in contact with oxygen, as it protects the organism from damage due to peroxide formed in the body from several metabolic processes. Catalase acts by speeds up the decomposition reaction of hydrogen peroxide to water. (Encyclopedia Britannica, 2017) Since liver plays a major key role in metabolism and hydrogen …show more content…

As oxygen is a gas and invisible to the naked eye, detergent was added to hydrogen peroxide and during the decomposition reaction when oxygen is produced, it would produce foam due to the detergent.

Picture 1. The picture shows how catalase breaks down hydrogen peroxide into 2 products oxygen and water. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BbYsp1kXuzw
The aim of the experiment was to investigate the effect of the increasing temperature on the activity of catalase in the dissociation of hydrogen peroxide. It was hypothesised that the highest rate of production of oxygen would be around 30℃, 30℃ since its found in the human body and the average temperature of the human body is 37℃.

The effect of the temperature on catalase is the independent variable and the result of it, the rate of production of foam was the dependent variable as it relied on the optimal temperature of catalase to produce the highest level of foam. The highest level of foam would represent the most oxygen produced signifying high rate of …show more content…

The marking of the foam height after 5 seconds was a challenge as human reflexes are not that quick.

The results were not reliability and this can be seen from the high standard deviation and the practical is not valid as there were too many error and the results were too imprecise. The low validity of the practical alludes to the improvements needed in the procedure of the investigation.

An improvement could be to add detergent separately so it doesn’t interfere with the measuring of the hydrogen peroxide. Recording the reaction and then using that to calculating the height of the foam formed in the 5 second timeframe would be a more accurate way of measuring. Using 2 thermometers throughout the practical and if there is an error then that error is consistent which will increase the accuracy even if the precision is affected. An electronic bath that maintains a certain temperature would increase the precision of the

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