1: INTRODUCTION
When studying the function of catalysts in reactions during the kinetics unit, I was eager to know more about the position of enzymes, which function as biological catalysts in biological systems. After doing some further research, I found that catalase, an enzyme, which is found in nearly all living organisms such as animals, catalyses the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) in the blood. H2O2 is produced by reactions in the white blood cells in our body to fight against diseases. However, if H2O2 were to build up, it would potentially kill us. Fortunately, we have catalase, which decomposes H2O2 into water (H2O) and oxygen …show more content…
This oxygen is used by glucose oxidase in eggs to catalyse the oxidation of b-glucose to glucono-1,5-lactone, which spontaneously hydrolyses to gluconic acid, reducing the browning in egg products such as mayonnaise (Chaplin, 2014). Considering the importance of the decomposition of H2O2 with catalase, I questioned the worth of the activation energy of the catalyzed reaction (EA), which led me to my research question; What is the activation energy (kJ mol-1) of the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) to oxygen (O2) and water (H2O) when catalyzed by catalase, by measuring the time taken for 10cm3 of oxygen gas to be evolved (s) at different temperatures (K) of 297.0K, 300.0K, 303.0K, 306.0K and