How Does Hydrogen Peroxide Affect The Rate Of Catalase

Its role as an enzyme is to quickly break down hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) into water and oxygen, preventing cellular damages. H2O2 is produced as a harmful by-product in all organisms that use molecular oxygen, so catalase is especially abundant in liver cells of humans and other organisms, because the liver is an organ that detoxifies many harmful substances including peroxides (Lab Manual). The catalase and hydrogen peroxide reaction process is as seen as below:

Catalase is an important enzyme that protects cells from oxidative damage, which hydrogen peroxide can cause. It is an incredibly efficient enzyme where one catalase molecule can convert millions of hydrogen peroxide molecules each second.

The rate of reaction between Catalase and the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) can vary depending on many factors including the enzyme concentration in a solution. In this investigation, the rate of reaction will be measured by the change in temperature of the liquefied spinach (catalase) over a period of 30 seconds, once the hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) has been added into the solution.

Hydrate the yeast packets in a beaker with 400 mL of distilled water at a 10% concentration. In a 50 mL

As seen on table 1, the hypothesis in the introduction of this lab has been supported by the procedures. As the temperature varied from catalases optimal of 37° C, the reaction rate of catalase decreased. 37°C had the highest reaction rate of the three, at 3, while 4°C had the middle rate of reaction at 2.5, and 100° C had the lowest reaction rate of 0.5.

Enzymes are biological catalysts, which accelerate the speed of chemical reactions in the body without being used up or changed in the process. Animals and plants contain enzymes which help break down fats, carbohydrates and proteins into smaller molecules the cells can use to get energy and carry out the processes that allow the plant or animal to survive. Without enzymes, most physiological processes would not take place. Hundreds of different types of enzymes are present in plant and animal cells and each is very specific in its function.

Enzymes are proteins that act as catalysts during a biochemical process. Catalysts are non-changing enzymes that can increase or decrease activation energy to accelerate or slow down a biochemical reaction without using additional energy.

An Enzyme is a protein that in essence speeds up biological reactions. So that would mean that a Catalase is an enzyme reaction that decomposes hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen. It is primarily found in the liver and it is important in protecting the cell from damaging oxidative reactions.

Its function is the speed up the decomposition of Hydrogen peroxide within cells. This is an important function within living animals because it becomes a poisonous substance. Catalase breaks apart hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen through enzyme-substrate complexes. (Tully) The shape of catalase is complex with various alpha-helices and beta-sheets.

Enzymes are catalysts. This means that they make biochemical reactions happen faster than they would otherwise. Sometimes the essential reactions would not happen at all without the help of enzymes. After each time the enzymes are ready to catalyze.

The purpose of this lab was to study some characteristics of enzyme action by investigating how the enzyme catalase decomposes hydrogen peroxide. It connects to our unit about enzymes because it illustrates how enzymes decompose their substrates and their rate of decomposition. In the graph of the more accurate experiment, it shows that the amount of product (in mL) gradually increased over time until at about 120 seconds. After that, it would just gradually begin to plateau meaning enzyme activity would no longer increase. Overall, both sets of data show that the amount of H2O2 decomposed gradually increased over time, and after a certain time, the number would stop climbing. The purpose of the potassium permanganate, or KMnO4, was to titrate the H2O2 in the solution, which we could then use to figure out how much of it was decomposed.

The chemical hydrogen peroxide(H₂O₂) is broken down by the enzyme catalase. Hydrogen peroxide is a byproduct formed in cellular reactions that, if not broken down, could inflict severe damage to the cell. Catalase is an enzyme that breaks down hydrogen peroxide in to water and oxygen. How efficient and strong the enzymes reaction to break down H₂O₂ determines largely on temperature and pH level. An enzyme only functions within a set pH and temperature range. Beyond that it becomes denatured, rendering it useless. The purpose of this lab is to determine at which temperature and pH level the enzyme catalase reacts best. Catalase in chicken and beef livers will be used to do the lab because enzymes still function after death as long as they are kept refrigerated at a low temperature.

Proteins can be found all throughout the human body. A fundamental task for these proteins is for them to act as enzymes, enzymes are “high molecular weight compounds made primarily of chains of amino acids linked together by peptide bonds” (Worthington Biochemical Corporation, 2014). Enzymes also allow certain chemical reactions to occur faster than they would usually occur by themselves. Enzymes have the same functions as a catalyst, meaning that they increase the rate of reaction in living organisms (Wiley, 2014). Enzymes are also able to be “denatured and precipitated with salts, solvents and other reagents” (Worthington Biochemical Corporation, 2014), one enzyme called Catalase is a natural enzyme found “primarily in the liver of animals” (GMO Compass, 2010) and is used in foods and drinks as well as animals to break down hydrogen peroxide. Hydrogen peroxide or H2O2, is a toxin that is found in the exhaled air and urine of humans (Halliwell, 2000). H2O2 is considered poisonous and unstable in high concentrations and can be used as an antiseptic and disinfectant in low concentrations as well as being used to whiten teeth and to kill bacteria in the mouth with use of mouth wash (WiseGeek, 2014).

Within a cell, enzymes are used as a catalyst to increase the rate of chemical reaction. They do not consume themselves, rather they help in increasing the rate of reaction. Within the body, enzymes vary depending on their specific functions. For instance, hydrogen peroxide is a toxic chemical, but it breaks down into harmless oxygen and water. This reaction can be sped up using the enzyme catalyst produced by yeast. Hydrogen peroxide is produced as a byproduct in cellular reaction, because it is poisonous and must be broken down, therefore this reaction is important. The speeding up of the reaction is shown below:

The bubbling that takes place when one pours hydrogen peroxide on a finger cut is a reaction caused by an enzyme called catalase. Catalase is in most blood and cells, and it should be noted that the enzyme catalase is a catalyst. Catalysts accelerate chemical reactions that otherwise proceed slowly. To put it in different terms, the editors of Encyclopædia Britannica have said that catalase is “an enzyme that brings about (catalyzes) the reaction by which hydrogen peroxide is decomposed to water and oxygen. Found extensively in organisms that live in the presence of oxygen, catalase prevents the accumulation of and protects cellular organelles and tissues from damage by peroxide, which is continuously produced by numerous metabolic reactions. In mammals, catalase is found predominantly in the liver.”