Does Tap Water Work The Fastest?

In this lab, the results did not formulate as what was supposed to happen. Theoretically, the tap water would work the fastest because there was no environmental factors affecting the outcome. As the temperature of the hydrochloric acid was raised, the enzyme’s speed should have slowed. In the results, the ice water worked the fastest and the 50° of HCL was the slowest. But the result of the 38°C was off by at least 90 ml/min in comparison to the tap water when it was supposed to work slower.
These results could have been from many different errors that were made during the lab. The first possible error might have been the different amounts of liver on the discs every trial. Because there was no certain amount that was needed other than coat the disk in the paste there could have been more on one disc than another in each trial, meaning that more liver on a disc equals more enzymes which would make the reaction quicker than the last.
If the temperature was increased, the rate of reaction slows. If the temperature of the HCl was raised by 10°C, the activity will increase by 50-100%. This did not happen with the results shown in the chart above. Even small temperature changes such as 1-2°C can change the effect of the enzymes by 10-20%. But as the enzyme reaches the 40°C mark, the protein will start to denature. As the enzyme reaches around 5°C or lower, the level of enzyme activity will become quicker as the temperatures are more favorable due to its regular cold environment (N.D, PDF). This explains why the iced HCl worked the fastest compared to the other