Essay on Chemical Reaction and Test Tube

Submitted By CiaraB
Words: 1274
Pages: 6

Christina Tien
Lorraine Amoah
Biology
October 24, 2012

Introduction The purpose of this experiment was to observe the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide by the enzyme, Catalase, whilst under different conditions. Being one of the largest internal organs, the liver, is positioned in the upper right quadrant of the abdomen just below the diaphragm. Its role in the body is constant and essential; it plays an important role in the metabolism of carbohydrates and converts lactate, or lactic acid, that is formed as a byproduct of the generation of energy. However, its main job is in the production of energy and what it does is it converts fats ingested through food products into the triglycerides mandatory for storage. If there is any reason the liver would fail or have a serious impairment, its lack of function would cause a catastrophic event for the body (Liver Functions 2007). In the liver, there are things called enzymes, and they are proteins that function as very efficient and highly specific biological catalysts. They are important because without them humans would not exist due to the chemical reactions required to maintain the body could not happen fast enough. How they work is by making a specific chemical reaction energetically more favorable (Enzymes 2009), so then that causes the lowering of activation energy, which is the energy needed to start a chemical reaction. However, there are things like change in temperature, pH levels, and salinity can cause the function of enzymes to slow or stop. Then there’s the Catalase, which is an enzyme found in most plant and animal cells that functions as an oxidative catalyst (Catalyst and catalysis 2008), and being an enzyme, it speeds up chemical reactions that go on in your liver. Also, the chemical reaction of decomposition of hydrogen peroxide by the enzyme will be studied. The hypothesis created was, if the catalyst is place in HCl, then its reaction would be the greatest out of the rest tested. This was chosen because it was thought an acid would help with the quickening of the reaction process.

Materials and Procedures
~Materials Needed * A chunk of liver * 6 clean test tubes (marked with numbers 1-6) in a test tube rack * Dissecting scissors * A beaker ice bath * Chemicals: hydrogen peroxide(H2O2), hydrochloric acid(HCl), and sodium hydroxide(NaOH) (with droppers) * A beaker of water on a hot plate with a thermometer * Test tube holder/clamps * A stopwatch

~Procedures After the needed materials are collected, the first step would be to cut the chunk of liver into six equal pieces and place a piece in each test tube. Second, you would place test tube 1 in the ice bath and leave it alone for now. Third, you would put a full dropper of H2O2 into test tube 2. Observe the intensity of the bubbles and record your data by rating the bubble intensity on a 1-5 scale, remember to do for the other pieces. Fourth, you would fill test tube 3 with enough HCl to cover the piece of liver, and you do the same for test tube four but with NaOH. Then put those two aside and go onto step five, which is to place test tube 5 and 6 into the beaker on the hot plate and turn it on to its highest setting. Put the thermometer in there with them and wait until it reached 37 °C; when it does, quickly remove test tube 5 with the test tube holder and add a dropper of H2O2. For step six you have to wait until the water boils and turn it down to 250°C when it does. Then using the stopwatch, set five minutes and when the time is over, take test tube 6 out with the clamps and a dropper of H2O2. The seventh thing you would do is take test tube one out of the ice bath and quickly add a dropper of H2O2. Lastly, you would add one dropper of H2O2 to test tube 3 and 4.

Results
Environmental Factor
Environmental Factor

Environmental Factor
Environmental Factor

Environmental Factor
Environmental Factor

First of all, the green in the bar graphs