Potato Catalase Lab

Words: 1274
Pages: 6

Purpose
Proteins called enzymes are used to increase the speed of a chemical reaction by reducing the activation energy of a substrate5. In this lab, hydrogen peroxide is added to six different samples of cells; raw hamburger, spinach leaf, raw liver, boiled liver, chalk and potato. The purpose of the lab is to observe the reaction of Hydrogen Peroxide with catalase in animal and plant cells, to compare the activity of catalase in animal cells and plant cells and to analyses the effects of boiling enzymes. Both animal and plant cells are known to contain catalase1-3,6. The lab will test to see which cells, plant or animal, have more catalase.
Abstract
Catalase is an enzyme that is found both animal and plant cells1-3. The
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Part A
1) Wrap tape around the upper part of the 5 test tubes,
2) Using pen, label five test tubes: hamburger, spinach, raw liver, potato, chalk
3) Measure 14ml of the hydrogen peroxide into the graduated cylinder CAUTION: hydrogen peroxide is highly corrosive, avoid contact with skin, eyes. Mouth, immediately wash contact areas with water.
4) Use the scalpel to slice tiny amount of hamburger, just enough to cover the tip of scalpel, place hamburger on slice on plate
5) Repeat the previous step for spinach, raw liver, potato and chalk. Keep all samples separate on the plate (clean scalpel between uses)
6) Using forceps, gently pick up each sample and place in the appropriately labeled test tube
7) Measure temperature of each test tube using thermometer, record results (remember to clean thermometer between use)
8) Add 2 ml of hydrogen peroxide to each test tube. Record observations (use thermometer to record any changes in temperate)
Part B
1) Wrap tape around 2 remaining test tube, label boiled liver, raw liver
2) Slice small samples of raw and boiled liver is same manner as described in step 4 Part
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The spinach and chalk had no immediate reaction. The potato’s reaction was intermediate. A catalase reaction with hydrogen peroxide involves the release of oxygen water and heat. This suggest that animal cells have a greater amount of catalase compared to plant cells since the animal cell samples had faster, more intense reactions that released the most heat. Therefore, my hypothesis, If hydrogen peroxide is mixed in a solution with plant and animal cells, then a faster and more intense reaction that releases more heat will be seen in animal cell samples (eg. Raw liver) than in the plant cell samples (eg. Potato), is