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The amount of 02 gas produced was then measured and recorded. The result was that the higher pH produced more gas, followed by medium pH, then low PH. The enzymes were more active in the pH of about 10. It increased the enzyme activity allowing more 02 to be produced from the breakdown of the hydrogen peroxide. In this lab we explore an enzymes activity and how it can be affected by changes to its environment. An enzyme is a protein and is a catalyst to chemical reactions (Raven, 2011).
It helps accelerate reactions by lowering the activation energy, which is needed for reactions in cells to progress at a higher rate (Kaiser, 001 Activation energy is the minimum amount of energy needed for a chemical reaction to occur, yielding products from a given set of reactants. Products are results of an enzyme cleaving to a specific substrate, by means of an induced fit. The induced fit is located at the active site of the enzyme or region of the enzyme where the substrate is bound. The substrate is the reactant within the reaction that fits with the enzyme like a key into a lock.
Once the substrate enters the enzyme’s active site the enzyme can flexibly change shape to more snugly bind, IA the induced fit, to form an enzyme-substrate complex. The substrate is then metabolize or broken down, resulting in a product, which can be utilized to energize cells. Once the product is released from the active site the enzyme returns to its original form (Raven, 2011). The main objective of this lab was to take the enzyme peroxides and observe how well it acts as a catalyst to hydrogen peroxide in varying environments. The effectiveness of peroxides was measured in a varying pH environment.