Table 1 shows the resulting change in height of the liquid solution when catalase and hydrogen peroxide reacted in various levels of pH solution. Twenty trials were completed to calculate a class average, including trial 18 which was data collected by my partner and me. During the first trial there was a minimal reaction. The reaction became more intense until reaching pH 7. The higher pH levels reaction was not as dramatic.
Figure 1 shows height of the liquid solution when catalase (the enzyme) and hydrogen peroxide (the substrate) reacted at various levels of pH. My specific trial data is compared to the class average data, consisting of twenty total trials.
The hypothesis of the experiment was that the test tube with the most basic pH would produce the most product (overall solution). This hypothesis was refuted. The data as shown in Figure 1 indicates that the most active reaction (highest change in level of solution produced) came from the test tube with a pH level of seven, followed by pH level five and pH level nine, which means that the enzyme catalase works most effectively at a neutral pH level. (Figure 1)
When the pH was varied too dramatically from neutral, the active site on the protein structure was denatured. This means that it was altered, stopping the catalyse from breaking up the H2O2 efficiently. When the solution was too acidic (low pH value of 3) or too basic (high pH value of 11), the catalase was less active.
This is why the cells inside our bodies should be neutral (pH 7). Human bodies create hydrogen peroxide during normal metabolic events and catalase quickly breaks it down into H2O and O2 before it becomes toxic (Nowicki, 2012).
For this particular experiment it was very important that the test tubes have the exact same amount of solution at the start so that final solution could be measured accurately. A few other errors that could have skewed the results were that the amount of enzymes added may not have been exactly equal or contamination of the test tubes or reactants may have adversely affected the reaction in addition the first ten trials were taken at a different time that the last ten which means the temperature may have been different (N.A. 2012).
If the pH level in our cells were to become too basic or too acidic, the cell’s DNA and other proteins can become damaged. Scientists think this might be a cause of cancer, diabetes, and other serious aliments (N.A. 2012).
Background:
Catalysts speed up chemical reactions by lowering activation energy, the energy needed for a reaction to begin. In every chemical reaction, the starting materials can take many different paths to forming products (N.A. 2011). For each path, there is an intermediate or transitional product between reactants and
