Optimum Temperature Lab Report

Enzymes are biological catalysts, which means it decreases activation energy in reactions. The lower activation energy in a reaction, the faster the reaction rate. Many enzymes alter their shape when they bind to the activation site. This is called induced fit, meaning for the enzyme to work to its full potential it has to change shape to binding substrate. The location of enzyme’s activation site is on the surface of the enzyme, where the binding of substrates take place. Enzyme activity can be influenced by a variety of environmental factors. If the concentration of enzyme is low, and there is a great deal of substrate, then increasing enzyme concentration results in more molecules available to convert substrates to products. Thus, increasing enzyme concentration can increase reaction rate. If substrate concentrations are low, and many of the existing enzymes are idle because of a lack of substrate, then adding enzyme will have no effect on reaction rate. Enzyme concentration affects the enzyme activity, because the more enzyme concentration the faster the reaction rate, until it hits it’s limiting factor. When substrate concentration is increased, it also increases rate of reaction. Temperature plays an important

The temperature can have a major impact on an enzyme. According to Campbell Biology author Reece etc. 2011 “The enzyme reaction will increase as the temperature increase with the increasing temperature….substrates collide with active sites more frequently when the molecules move rapidly.”(Reece etc 2011) Every enzyme hits its optimal temperature the reaction will be at its highest point.(Reece etc. 2011) When the

Hypothesis: I believe the rate of reaction will speed up as the temperature increases until it reaches about 37oC, which is the body temperature, where it will begin to slow down and stop reacting. I believe this will occur because enzymes have a temperature range at which they work best in and once the temperature goes out of this range the enzyme will stop working.

As the temperature increases, so will the rate of enzyme reaction. However, as the temperature exceeds the optimum the rate of reaction will decrease.

2. State the optimum temperature for sucrase activity and how sucrase activity changes at lower and higher temperatures. The optimum temperature for sucrase activity is 40 degrees Celcius. Sucrase activity decrease at greater or lower temperature and may become denatured.

These results show how temperature of extreme high, or low affects enzyme activity. The highest rate of enzyme activity occurred at 37 Cº. Anything that was hotter or cold than 37 Cº slowed the reaction rate. As I thought, 100 degrees would denature the enzyme, and that was the case. The data provided shows exactly what temperatures enzymes work best, and worst. The objective was achieved as we discovered the different reaction rates under different temperatures. The results are reliable, as we know enzymes do not work well when under extreme heat or denaturation occurs. What I learned in this experiment was that enzymes don’t work well under cold temperatures because they tend to move slower. My hypothesis did not quite match, because I thought they work best at lower temperatures.

Most enzymes work best at body temperature, higher temps will cause the enzyme to no longer work properly

Enzymes will denature if they get too hot or cold or if the pH of the solution they are in is too high or too

As stated in the introduction, three conditions that may affect enzyme activity are salinity, temperature, and pH. In experiment two, we explored how temperature can affect enzymatic activity. Since most enzymes function best at their optimum temperature or room temperature, it was expected that the best reaction is in this environment. The higher the temperature that faster the reaction unless the enzyme is denatured because it is too hot. Similarly, pH and salinity can affect enzyme activity.

The optimal temperature permits the utmost number of molecular collisions and the fastest alteration of the reactants to product molecules. Most human enzymes have an optimal temperature of about 35-40°C (close to body temperature 37°C).

However if the temperature exceeds the optimum temperature the enzyme becomes denatured. This is because there is too much energy causing the enzyme molecules to vibrate causing the bonds maintaining their tertiary structure to break. The enzyme unravels causing the shape of the active site to change so it can no longer fit with the substrate.

The enzyme used for food digestion breaks down the bigger particles into smaller particles. The enzymes used for DNA copying, copies are DNA. It first requires the help of an enzyme, which includes helicase that straightens the DNA strand, then uses DNA polymerase III that then triggers the copying process. The breakdown of carbohydrates is a simple/complex process. The simple carbohydrates can be broken down easily and are simply absorbed into the intestine (small intestine), but the complex carbohydrates require more help. The complex carbohydrates require an enzyme such as salivary amylase, pancreatic amylase and maltose. Do enzymes need special conditions to work? Well the answer is yes. The temperature and pH affect the enzymes performance, called its optimum conditions. The colder the enzyme is the slower it works the hotter the enzyme is the faster it works, until it reaches a specific temperature where it works best (400C). If the enzyme goes hotter than the specific temperature it will denature and the exact same thing would occur if it got to cold. What factors affect enzyme activity? The factors that affect enzymatic activity are temperature, pH, substrate concentration and enzyme

Temperature affects the rate at which substrate and enzyme molecules collide. So if temperature is below optimal level, then enzyme activity is halted, and if temperature is beyond optimal temperature, then it will denature the active site, preventing or decreasing substrate binding. Based on all the information gathered it is safe to say that there is a correlation between enzyme activity and temperature.

Most enzymes become denatured past forty degrees Celsius. Also, most enzymes lose activity when frozen at about zero degrees Celsius. As stated before, enzymes have an optimum pH at which they function. Enzymes can lose all activity or we can say that the rate of activity decreases for enzymes at extreme pH values. Each enzyme functions best at a different pH. As researched, the optimum pH for peroxidase is between 6.0 and 6.5, or even ranging from 6.0 –7.0 is better. The majority of enzymes have their best activity between a pH of 6 to 8. The vast majority of enzymes are proteins. Because enzymes are proteins, they are made of amino acids causing them to weigh differently. Also, most enzymes are made up of multiple enzyme complexes. With this being so, the weight of an enzyme can affect its activity. In enzymes, there are also many types of bonds found. These bonds contain hydrogen bonds, disulfide bonds, or covalent bonds, which will affect enzyme activity. For instance, covalent bonds are the strongest and hydrogen bonds are the weakest. Along with the structure of the enzyme, stronger bonds hold the enzyme together longer under extreme conditions. Basically, the enzyme has to bind to a specific site on the substrate-or the molecule that needs to be changed. The enzyme can bind at a site called the active site, or at a different site on the substrate called an allosteric site.

Thermoregulation is important, especially in humans, as temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius cause enzymes to denature rapidly. Enzymes have an optimal range for catalysing reactions. Temperatures below this cause for the rate at which reactions occur to decrease, whereas temperatures above this can lead to the denaturing of enzymes and important metabolic reactions unable to occur. Therefore it is essential for enzymes in the body to be functioning.