The Effect Or Varying Enzyme Concentration On The Breakdown Of Hydrogen Peroxide In The Presence of
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The rate of reaction was calculated by dividing 1000 by the time taken for the quantity of gas to be produced from the reaction. By calculating the rate of reaction instead of merely using the time readings, the quicker reactions will be represented as a greater value for the rate of reaction rather than a small time value. This makes the graph more clear and easier to analyse.
Patterns within the results collected from the experiment, are best shown on a graph. This is because overall trends between the enzyme concentration and rate of reaction can be portrayed more effectively and become more obvious.
Limitations and Precautions - In this investigation, I measured the rate of reaction with enzyme concentrations of between 0 and 35 units (potato discs). At 0, there should be no reaction as there will be no substrate, however, I included it to act as a control. This will show that it is the variable, enzyme concentration that is being measured.
I decided to vary the enzyme concentration by varying the number of potato discs. However, although the enzyme, Catalase, occurs in the potato tissue, I did not know the exact quantity and certain discs might have more Catalase than others. This could be a major limitation in this investigation. I have tried to compensate for this, however, by taking multiple readings for each enzyme concentration so that inaccuracies are minimised once averaged.
As a precaution, I have limited my contact with the boiling tubes, as my body heat will raise the temperature, increasing the rate of reaction or expanding the gas inside the test tube moving the manometer fluid.
I also monitored the temperature using a thermometer to ensure that it remained constant and not disrupt the results of the experiment by affecting the activity of the Catalase.
A pH buffer was used to maintain a consistent pH level in the boiling tubes. This way there was no variation in pH that might have resulted in an increase or decrease in the rate of reaction.
A major limitation of this investigation was the time. It meant that only 8different enzyme concentrations could be measured at intervals of 5 units or potato discs. This means that only very general, overall tre ...
