Seth Boriel May 3rd 2022

4R29

Title: Enzymes

Aim: To show the process by which the enzyme catalase breaks down Hydrogen Peroxide to
form Oxygen

Apparatus and Materials:

● 1 Potato
● Blender
● 5 test tubes
● 600cm3 beaker
● 250cm3 beaker
● 100cm3
● Chopping book and knife
● Hydrogen peroxide solution
● Water
● Bung and Delivery tube
● Stopwatch

Procedure:

1. Cut the skin off a medium sized potato. Chop the potato into small pieces and
homogenize the tissue with an equal volume of distilled water in a blender.

2. Allow the solid potato debris to settle and remove the liquid layer above the debris. This
liquid layer is the homogenate.

3. Place 500cm3 distilled water in the 600cm3 beaker

4. Place at least 30cm3 of potato homogenate in 250cm3 beaker

5. Place 5cm3 potato homogenate into measuring cylinder

6. Place 10cm3 Hydrogen Peroxide and no water in a boiling tube and label the tube “1”

7. Place 5cm3 potato homogenate into tube 1 and quickly cover with the bung and delivery
tube with the opposite end in the 600cm3 beaker with water as shown in the diagram

8. Record the number of bubbles produced in the 600cm3 of water in the first minute of the
potato homogenate being added
9. Repeat the experiment from step 5, but use the following combinations of
Hydrogen Peroxide to water. 8:2, 6:4, 4:6, 2:8
Results and Observations:

Table Showing the Number of Bubbles Produced Corresponding to Each Hydrogen Peroxide to
Water Combinations

Test Tube H2O2 Volume (cm3) H2O Volume (cm3) No. of Bubbles

1 10 0 417

2 8 2 334

3 6 4 257

4 4 6 176

5 2 8 140

Discussion:
Many chemical processes occur in the human body. These processes produce waste products,
many of which are harmful to the body. Therefore, the body needs to eliminate waste by
washing it away or breaking it down into harmless substances. This experiment focuses on the
latter and decomposes harmful waste. Enzymes are responsible for breaking down such
substances. Enzymes can be described as "biological catalysts" that accelerate or slow down
chemical reactions. Enzymes are specialized. That is, it reacts only with specific substances,
so-called substrates. Enzymes are shaped to react only with specific substrates. In other
words, it's similar to "key and lock". The substance to be decomposed is hydrogen peroxide
(H2O2), and the enzyme is catalase. Catalase converts hydrogen peroxide into water and
oxygen. This is expressed by the formula 2H2O2 → 2H2O + O2. Catalase is an enzyme and
hydrogen peroxide is a substrate.
The enzyme catalase occurs naturally in potatoes. The reason potatoes are homogenized is
that this allows them to treat more potato surfaces. Hydrogen peroxide interacts with mother
potatoes, making the reaction more pronounced. Using five different ratios of hydrogen
peroxide and water, we showed how the concentration affects the results. The results show that
even the slightest difference in usage can produce surprisingly different results. You can
determine if more oxygen is being produced by counting the number of pure oxygen bubbles
produced in the 600cc beaker. Even during the experiment, I was able to notice the extreme
difference in size without actually counting the bubbles.
Tube 1 was the most reactive. This can be determined by the number of bubbles generated. A
total of 417 bubbles were counted per minute. This is because test tube 1 contains a large
amount of hydrogen peroxide and a small amount of water to dilute the concentration. In fact,
there was no water at all. The amount of hydrogen peroxide in test tube 2 is slightly less than
the amount in test tube 1, but when the number of bubbles is 334, there is a difference of almost
100 bubbles. The same pattern is observed in test tube 3 with 257 bubbles. It is made of pure
oxygen and has 176 bubbles in test tube 4 and 140 bubbles in test tube 5. As can be seen from
the results, Tube 5 contained the most water and the least amount of hydrogen peroxide. Test
tube 5 generated the least amount of bubbles. For example, if you have a test tube 6 that does
not contain hydrogen peroxide and 10cc of water and potato homogenate is added, no bubbles
are formed because the substrate hydrogen peroxide is not present and therefore the reaction
does not occur.

Sources of Error:

1. Humans are imperfect, so there would be a small amount of time between when
the potato homogenate is poured and when the test tube is covered, allowing for
some oxygen to escape.

2. The toggling of the stopwatch would be imperfect since humans are imperfect.

Conclusion:
The process by which the enzyme catalase breaks down hydrogen peroxide to form oxygen
(and water) has been shown and demonstrated.

Reflection:

This experiment helped me better understand how my body's processes work. It was
unrealistic to see me obscuring and physically controlling what was happening in my body. This
information can be used by human body professionals to draw conclusions that may be useful
in medicine.