Investigation 13 Enzymes

Purpose
The purpose of this lab is to further our understanding of enzymes, how they function, and how
they are affected by pH.
Data

Control(pH
7, no
catalase)

pH 1 with
catalase

pH 4 with
catalase

pH 7 with
catalase

pH 10 with
catalase

pH 13 with
catalase

Initial
Oxygen

18.66%

18.73%

18.62 %

17.77%

18.52%

18.71%

Final
Oxygen
after 1 min.

18.78%

18.97%

19.16%

20.86%

20.50%

19.00%

Percent
change

.643%

1.28%

2.9%

17.5%

10.7%

1.55%

Results

% Change in Oxygen Concentration vs pH

% Change in Oxygen concentration

20.00%
18.00%
16.00%
14.00%
12.00%
10.00%
8.00%
6.00%
4.00%
2.00%
0.00%
pH 1

pH 4

pH 7
pH

pH 10

pH 13

The graph displays the change in oxygen concentration versus pH over the time interval of a
minute. A greater change in concentration indicates a greater rate of reaction, meaning that the
catalase (enzyme) was more effective at that pH. Without the catalase at a pH of 7 (not graphed),
the oxygen concentration increased by .643%. At a pH of 1, the oxygen increased by 1.28%,
indicating that the catalase was not at all effective at this pH. At a pH of 4, the oxygen
concentration increased by 2.9%, showing that the catalase was only slightly effective at this pH.
The oxygen concentration increased the most at pH 7, increasing by 17.5%. This indicates that
the catalase is most effective at near neutral pHs. The percent change in oxygen went down as
pH increased from 7, with a 10.7% increase at pH 10 and 1.55% increase at pH 13.

Conclusion
The purpose of the lab was successfully fulfilled in determining the effect of pH on enzymes.
Enzymes, such as catalase serve to increase the rate of the reaction, but only under optimal
conditions. It can be seen from the data that catalase functions best at around a neutral pH, which
makes sense because the pH of human blood is close to neutral. As pH deviates further from a
neutral pH, the enzymes effectiveness goes down, indicated by a slower reaction rate. This is
due to denaturation of the enzyme as pH changes.

The data seems to be consistent with our knowledge of catalase in that it should be most
effective around a neutral pH. However, we should have run more trials and averaged the results
to reduce error that could have arisen due to measurement error.