Does the temperature of catalase affect its enzymatic action? By: Danielle Dixon, Jane Wedding, Mallory Richards, Riliegh Owens

Hypothesis The catalase heated to 37°C will produce the most oxygen in 200 seconds compared to the oxygen production from the catalase at 42°C and at 20° because the energy of the enzyme is increased.

Experiment In the experiment we had a control of water at 37 degrees celsius and tested it with the effect on catalase. We recorded those results then we tested 42 degrees celsius water and the effect it had on catalase and we recorded the data. Next, we tested 20 degrees celsius water and the effect it had on the catalase and recorded the data. We repeated each trial of the hot and cold water 3 times. Each time tested, we used 10 mL of hydrogen peroxide and 1 mL of catalase solution.

Trial and error: When we first started this experiment we came across a lot of errors and had to redo trials to get accurate results. Certain amounts of hydrogen peroxide and catalase gave no slope or a very small slope. It took many tries to find the right concentration of 10 mL of hydrogen peroxide and 1 mL of catalase solution to give a nice slope.

Control Group (37 degrees celsius) The slope of the control group of 37 degrees celsius was: 1: .5182 kPa/s This is what we are testing our other experiments against to see if hot water increases oxygen production and cold water reduces it. As pictured, the pressure got to high in the flask causing trial 2’s lid to pop off noted as the sudden drop in the graphed line. We believe this will be the temperature that causes the catalase to produce the most oxygen.

40 degrees celsius In the 40 degrees celsius trials, the slope of each trial was: 1st: 0.3827 kPa/s 2nd: 0.3336 kPa/s 3rd: 0.5262 kPa/s Average slope: 0.4142 kPa/s The data shown here by the experiments states the less oxygen is produced at higher temperatures.

20 degrees celsius In the 20 degrees celsius trials, the slope of each trial was: 1st: 0.4821 kPa/s 2nd: 0.4816 kPa/s 3rd: 0.4502 kPa/s Average slope: 0.4713 kPa/s At this state it produced less oxygen than at 37 degrees celsius, but more than 40 degrees celsius.

Conclusion The catalase heated to 37℃ produced more oxygen than the catalase heated to 42℃ and the catalase heated to 20℃. This is because catalase is activated and works best at room/body temperature. 37 degrees celsius is 98.6 degrees fahrenheit. If catalase gets too hot it loses its chemical base to function and if it gets too cold its chemicals can’t be activated enough.