Lab report
June 11, 2013
Biology 123
Professor K
Title:
Scientific Investigation of the Peroxidase Enzyme & Temperature
Abstract: In this lab we tested the effect temperature has on the rate of enzyme activity. The way we figured this out was by taking four different temperatures and testing the different absorbance levels they produced every 20 seconds for two minutes straight using a spectrophotometer. The important part of this experiment was the temperature the enzyme concentration was made at. What we got from the experiment was at lower temperature we got very low numbers for the absorbance, which gave us a lower rate for the enzyme reaction to complete, and visa versa for higher temperatures. …show more content…
Enzymes are generated by our body, and are usually categorized as proteins. They speed up reactions and have a structure that is important to its function. It has an active site, which is opened until a substrate binds to it and activates it to play a specific function in a chemical reaction. In biology terms a substrate is the surface or medium on which an organism grows or is attached. In addition the chemistry term for a substrate is simply the substance that is acted upon by an enzyme or the molecules at the beginning of the reaction. A great example of an enzyme and substrate reaction is curd formation, which is a reaction where rennin is added to milk. In this example the substrate would be milk and the enzyme would be rennin. At the end of the reaction a product is made. A good way to memorize what happens in these chemical reactions is by symbols, such like …show more content…
For example temperature, PH, inhibitors, enzyme concentration, and substrate concentration all contribute to the way enzyme reactions occur. The main focus on this experiment is temperature. Just like us human’s enzymes have a desirable temperature they like to work under. Furthermore heat enhances the kinetic energy of the participant molecules, which results in more number of collisions between them. These collisions of molecules cause the reaction to happen better and quicker. So if he environment is cold instead of hot then the molecules move slower causing a less chance of these molecules colliding. Meaning in hotter temperature the reaction will be faster than in colder environments. Even though this is true in extreme hot temperature the opposite occurs, which the enzyme becomes denatured and fails to carry out its function. Denature is when something unfolds and cannot follow up with its function due to its structure. A good temperature for enzyme reaction is our body temperature. Here we want to test this and make sure that with different temperature the warmer it is the more robust the reaction will