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Heather Lewis, Karina Granadeno

The effects of temperature on enzymes

Hot Temperature

1st trial- 1:08 minutes

2nd trial - 1:08

Room Temperature

1st trial- 0:08 seconds

2nd Trial- 0:09

Cold Temperature

1st Trial- 0:10 seconds

2nd Trial- 0:09

From experiment 2 we can conclude that hotter substances break down molecules more slowly, because we can see that it took longer for the disc to rise to the top in the warm peroxide than in the room temperature or cold peroxide. A possible explanation for this is that more movement of particles makes it more difficult for the catalyst to break down the substance. By heating both the catalase B and the peroxide, both substances had particles that were moving randomly and more quickly. Therefore, it was more difficult for the particles to connect with each other in the constant motion, and more difficult for the enzyme to begin the breakdown of the hydrogen and oxygen atoms. An increase in pH would make this even more difficult, because the increase in hydrogen atoms would mean that the oxygen atoms would be harder to reach. Hydrogen atoms would block the catalase from the oxygen atoms, making breakdown more difficult.