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Enzymes Lab Report

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Enzymes are a substance that acts as a catalyst in order to create a specific biochemical reaction. Enzymes’ major function is to accelerate chemical reactions in the body (Radzicka & Wolfenden, 1995, p. 5198). Working to create products, Enzymes act upon substrates converting them into new molecules called products. Most of the metabolic processes in the human body require enzymes to create the reaction in a timely manner as to sustain life. The metabolic process that occurs in each cell is determined by the set of enzymes within the cell. Enzymes are able to increase the rate at which a reaction occurs by lowering the cells activation energy, some even converting at millions of times faster than the natural chemical reaction (Radzicka & Wolfenden, 1995, p. 5200). In order for an enzyme to function properly, its environment needs to be similar to that inside the human body, 98.6F and moist (Feng & Ji, 2011, p. 891). If an enzyme is in an environment warmer than the human body, it becomes denatured, meaning it can no longer break down lipids. Amylase is a group of digestive enzymes …show more content…

The methodology of our experiment was fairly simple. In the first cavity, we had our control solution that consisted of four drops of water and six drops of starch solution. The second cavity contained four drops of water and six drops of enzyme solution to show the effects of enzyme solution being present. In the third cavity, we used four drops of enzyme solution and six drops of starch solution. For the fourth cavity, we used four drops of heat treated enzyme solution and six drops of starch solution. Once all of the cavities had the correct solutions, we let the solutions react for thirty to sixty minutes. After the waiting period, we added one drop of iodine solution to each cavity in order to see the results of our

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