Ayisha_Story

Ayisha Mitchell & Takiyah Johnson February 2010 Biology 0100 Professor Rose Brizan Enzymes: The Catalysts of Living Matter Enzymes are a biological catalyst that means that they speed up the chemical reactions in living things. In our bodies, without enzymes, they would not work properly and we wouldn’t be alive. They help our stomachs digest faster, also, our muscles, nerves and bones work properly. A catalyst is any substance that quickens a chemical reaction, without changing itself. Catalyst can be reused over and over again without being used up; however, an enzyme is easily damaged and loses its shape during its use. Our enzymes work best with our body temperature, but have to have the correct pH because they are all made of protein; therefore, that is why they are sensitive to heat, pH, and heavy metal ions. The purpose of this lab is to find out the effect of variations in enzymes on the different timings of reaction and the differences of the appearances. At first we didn’t know what to expect of the experiment, but after we saw what different chemicals we were using we figured there will be very different results with each chemical. We figured that some would be a lot slower than other and others no change at all. During this experiment we needed to use a variety of things. They are as followed: 3 potato slices, beakers, potato juice, distilled water, eyedroppers, paper towels, ice, hot water, hot plate, ice box, blender, P-Cresol, and Cathechol. To start this process, we were to take the three slices of potatoes on the paper towel, and on one, one drop of water, the second a drop of P-cresol, and the third, a Drop of Cathechol. We than waited, with some the change came immediately, but for the water it took a while. Later, we filled each beaker with ¼ of distilled water, and added the specific amounts of potato juice that was required for each beaker being used in this experiment. Once that was finished, we were to add a specific amount of P-Cresol, and/or Cathechol, then to place one beaker into ice and another in hot water. The reaction time for the potato juice was much faster than the slices, but took longer for different change to continue. On the other hand the slices brought change every time we checked on them. After the experiment was over, we decided that our hypothesis wasn’t completely correct. For the most part they were. There was a lot of change in everything, even using just water for the potato slices. I think we received the results we got because of the chemicals being use with this experiment. After reviewing this experiment, we’ve learned that the different chemicals used for the potatoes, whether them being in liquid form or the actual slices, it didn’t matter because there was change everywhere. Some took a little longer than others, but they all brought some type of amazing results that we didn’t know would happen for sure.