Activation Energy Barrier Lab

Enzymes speed up metabolic reactions necessary for life. Without them certain vital processes would not take place and the body would be unable to function.

Enzymes are biological catalysts, which speed up the rate of reaction without being used up during the reaction, which take place in living organisms. They do this by lowering the activation energy. The activation energy is the energy needed to start the reaction.

These results shown from this experiment led us to conclude that enzymes work best at certain pH rates. For this particular enzyme, pH 7 worked best. When compared to high levels of pH, the lower levels worked better. The wrong level of pH can denature enzymes; therefore finding the right level is essential. The independent variable was the amount of pH, and the dependent being the rate of oxygen. The results are reliable as they are reinforced by the fact that enzymes typically work best at neutral pH

Background and Introduction: Enzymes are proteins that process substrates, which is the chemical molecule that enzymes work on to make products. Enzyme purpose is to increase the rate of activity and speed up chemical reaction in a form of biological catalysts. The enzymes specialize in lowering the activation energy to start the process. Enzymes are very specific in their process, each substrate is designed to fit with a specific substrate and the enzyme and substrate link at the active site. The binding of a substrate to the active site of an enzyme is a very specific interaction. Active sites are clefts or grooves on the surface of an enzyme, usually composed of amino acids from different parts of the polypeptide chain that are brought together in the tertiary structure of the folded protein. Substrates initially bind to the active site by noncovalent interactions, including hydrogen bonds, ionic bonds, and hydrophobic interactions. Once a substrate is bound to the active site of an enzyme, multiple mechanisms can accelerate its conversion to the product of the reaction. But sometimes, these enzymes fail or succeed to increase the rate of action because of various factors that limit the action. These factors can be known as temperature, acidity levels (pH), enzyme and/or substrate concentration, etc. In this experiment, it will be tested how much of an effect

It had a lot to do with the time and the amount of oxygen evolved. When holding the leveling bulb it seemed that the longer I had to hold it level the harder it became to be as accurate. I would find my arm getting tired and the bulb varying, which would also effect the times that we recorded. Another thing that could have affected our results was not putting the stopper on the Erlenmeyer flask fast enough, fumes from the formation of oxygen could have escaped before we got the stopper on, causing error in the amount and time in which the oxygen was evolved.

Enzymes are a very important to the biological process. Enzymes help break down food and are essential in helping convert that food to energy. Enzymes have a single function, which makes them unique and need specific conditions in order for the reaction to occur. Every function in an organism has its own unique enzyme (What are enzymes?). One important thing to know about enzymes is that they are proteins. According to rsc.org enzymes are efficient catalysts for biochemical reactions and they, “speed up reactions by providing an alternative reaction pathway of lower activation energy” (Enzymes).

Enzymes are an organic substance that are made up of polymers of amino acids that help the digestive system and metabolic processes in living organisms (Funk and Wagnalls, 2016). Enzymes are able

• Enzymes are involved in processes such as the breakdown of carbohydrates and converts them into energy for the body to use.

Enzymes are biological catalysts, which accelerate the speed of chemical reactions in the body without being used up or changed in the process. Animals and plants contain enzymes which help break down fats, carbohydrates and proteins into smaller molecules the cells can use to get energy and carry out the processes that allow the plant or animal to survive. Without enzymes, most physiological processes would not take place. Hundreds of different types of enzymes are present in plant and animal cells and each is very specific in its function.

1. A constant volume must be kept in order to maintain reliable data and keep it directly proportional to the number of reactants consumed. Also, the results table can easily compare the changes in temperature and not be skewed. If you add a couple more milliliters to the experiment, it could produce a higher or lower temperature.

Enzymes are a key aspect in our everyday life and are a key to sustaining life. They are biological catalysts that help speed up the rate of reactions. They do this by lowering the activation energy of chemical reactions (Biology Department, 2011).

Catalysis They serve as enzymatic catalysts that speed up biochemical reactions while remaining unchanged in the process. Without these biological catalysts, chemical reactions would occur so slowly that life as we know it could not exist. With them, chemical reactions can occur at rates as much as 10 billion times faster than would be possible without enzymes. Enzymes are critical to digestion and metabolism, they are required to release nutrients from foods so they can be absorbed and utilized by the body.

Enzymes accelerate the breakdown of protein molecules and they get credit for chemical reactions that occur in all animals (Luteyn, 2006). Without enzymes our bodies would not metabolize food fast enough for us to live. Enzymes speed up the digestion process and are located in such places in our bodies as the saliva, stomach, pancreas, and intestines. One problem people face is that our production of enzymes can diminish with age, so it is important that we get our share of amino acids.

Enzymes are central to every biochemical process. Due to their high specificity they are capable of catalyzing hundreds of reactions that signifies their vast practical importance.

The purpose of the experiment is to investigate if changes in temperature affect the reaction rates of the potato enzyme, catechol oxidase. The enzymatic activity will be measured at three different temperatures with a spectrophotometer. The results will indicate the optimal temperate conditions for enzyme-catalyzed reactions. Introduction Living organisms are maintained by a complex system of biochemical reactions.