Mohsin Ali

Vic
Block 1
12/12/10
Lab: Enzyme catalysis

Methods:
To begin this lab we had to set a baseline reading so we could compare our results with our
findings in other test. To settle our baseline we put 15 mL of hydrogen peroxide in a cup and 1mL of
water. We took a small sample and titrated it by adding Potassium permanganate until the solution
turned pinkish brown. This reading gave us an amount to compare what we were testing with.
After setting a baseline we took more hydrogen peroxide and distributed it into 7 cups, but not
all at once, we did one at a time. Each cup was labeled from 0 to360 seconds. We took 1 mL of catalyst
and put it into each cup, in sequence. Then when the described time had expired we would add 10 mL
of sulfuric acid. The sulfuric acid was added to stop the reaction from occurring by denaturing the
enzyme. We titrated 5 mL of each one of these solutions and recorded how much hydrogen peroxide
had been left from the catalysis. To better analyze the data and rate of reaction we graphed the results.

Results:

Table 1 Time

KmnO4 10 30 60 90 120 180 360

Baseline reading 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2 4.2

Final reading 16.9 19.1 21.2 22.9 24 24.8 25.2

Initial reading 14.3 16.9 19.1 21.2 22.9 24 24.8

Amount KmnO4 consumed 2.6 2.2 2.1 1.7 1.1 0.8 0.4

Amount Peroxide used 1.6 2 2.1 2.5 3.1 3.4 3.8

Discussion:
What we found out in this lab was that as time goes on more hydrogen peroxide will be broken
down until the solution begins to run out of the substrate and the rate of reaction flattens. From these
results we learned that an enzyme works at a logarithmic rate where the rate of reaction is high at first,
but then begins to level out towards the end. We observed and recorded how an enzyme speeds up a
reaction (Table 1). Then by analyzing graph 1 we were able to see the rate of the chemical reaction
change. Another concept that could be taken away from this is that enzymes are catalyst that do not get
used up or destroyed just by working. Along with learning this about our scientific concept, we also
learned that acids, such as sulfuric acids, denatures enzymes and stops them form working.
One of the questions we were trying to find the answer to was how do environmental factors
affect the activity of an enzyme. I believe that drastic changes in the environment of an enzyme can
make it stop working completely. We saw this when the pH was dropped rapidly and the catalase
stopped functioning. Due to this fact I believe that there is an optimal environment for an enzyme to
work and changes in that only slow down its functioning. Another question we were exploring with this
experiment was how is the rate of chemical reaction affected over time. We learned that the rate of
chemical reaction slows down as time goes on because there is less substrate for the catalyst to work
on.
A source of uncertainty comes from our baseline experiment. Our result came out to 4.2 mL
which was slightly higher than that of other groups. This error may have just come from human error.
Due to this larger control group our results may have been off. The other groups doing the lab had
results slightly lower than ours which is why we are questioning our results. To gather more
information I would include more times to test the hydrogen peroxide, which would give us more
accurate results and a more accurate graph. Also more trials would increase the sample of data to
analyze.
Title:
The Rate of an Catalase-Mediated Reaction at Different Times.