The enzyme amylase Essay Example for Free

The enzyme amylase Essay Risk Assessment Using hot water could cause a risk of burns. Variable Table Type Variable Value How Measured Dependent Variable Amount Of Glucose Colour black or shade of orange Using Iodine Independent Variable Temperature Degrees 10i C to 80i C Thermometer Controlled Variable Volume of Chemicals 30ml Graded Tube Controlled Variable Concentration of Chemical All chemicals are from the same original unchanged source. Controlled Variable Time for reaction Minutes Using a stop watched Method Diagram Trial Data This trial data was done on a focus science computer program. Temperature. Reaction Time 10oC No Reaction 15oC 17 minutes 20oC 11 minutes 25oC 8 minutes 30oC 6 minutes 35oC 5 minutes 40oC 5 minutes 45oC 5 minutes 50oC 6 minutes 55oC 10 minutes 60oC No Reaction From the trial data it is clear to see the only variables that have an effect on the experiment are time and temperature. Obtaining Evidence Introduction These are my results I found out when I did my experiment. I repeated the experiment 3 times to ensure the best accuracy. Experiment 1 Temperature Time 25. No Reaction Experiment 2 Temperature Time 2C 180 Seconds 50i C 213 Seconds 55i C 240 Seconds 60i C N/A Analysis Experiment 1 In this graph of experiment 1, the reaction time has a minimum value of 1:30 this happens at 35iC. The highest value occurs at 25i C and this is 5:00. From 25i C to the minimum value of 35i C the reaction time decreases at a decreasing rate. From the minimum value 35i C to the last value of 55i C the reaction time increases at a decreasing rate. Experiment 2 In this graph of experiment 2, the reaction time has a minimum value of 1:20 this happens at 35i C. The highest value occurs at 55i C and this is 3:20. From 25i C to the minimum value of 35i C the reaction time decreases at a decreasing rate. From the minimum value 35i C to the last value of 55i C the reaction time increases at a decreasing rate. Experiment 3 In this graph of experiment 3, the reaction time has a minimum value of 1:00 this happens at 35i C. The highest value occurs at 60i C and this is 5:20. From 25i C to the minimum value of 35i C the reaction time decreases at an increasing rate. From the minimum value 35i C to the last value of 60i C the reaction time increases at a decreasing rate. Mean Averages In this graph of the mean averages, the reaction time has a minimum value of 1:20 this happens at 35i C. The highest value occurs at 55i C and this is 3:20. From 25i C to the minimum value of 35i C the reaction time decreases at an increasing rate. From the minimum value 35i C to the last value of 55i C the reaction time increases at a decreasing rate. Conclusion From my graph of averages, I can see that when the results are put into a mean average form the Y axis in this case, the reaction time has a minimum and a maximum value. The maximum occurs at 55i C and is 4 minutes and the minimum value occurs at 35i C and is 1. 26minutes which happens to be the closest value to 37i C, which is the temperature I predicted the enzyme amylase would function best in. From all my results I can tell that enzyme activity was slower below the optimum temperature of 37i C but lower than 37i C was better than the enzyme being above 37i C, due to the enzymes changing of shape at extreme temperatures. All my results match my prediction. The rate of reaction dramatically dropped above and below 37i C in most instances above 37i C was slower than below 37i C. However this wasnt the case for experiment 1 possible reasons for this could have been the concentration of my amylase solution or possible the concentration of my starch solution. Reliability of Results From the results I can tell they were reliable because they follow my predicted trend and I only had one anomalous result which I did not use to calculate the 60i C average, as the anomalous result was the only result I got for 60i C in experiment 3. One possible reason for this result could have been that the solution of amylase was different to the other experiments or the starch solution was different to the other experiments. Also experiment 3 doesnt follow the trend that 25i C to the minimum value of 35i C the reaction time decreases at a decreasing rate. From the minimum value 35i C to the last value of 55i C the reaction time increases at a decreasing rate it has this trend, from 25i C to the minimum value of 35i C the reaction time decreases at an increasing rate. From the minimum value 35i C to the last value of 60i C the reaction time increases at a decreasing rate. The reason for this is the same as why I got a result for 60i C the fact that the concentration of the amylase and starch could have been different from the ones used in my other experiments. Evaluation Accuracy of results. Measuring Of Time One difficult thing about taking the readings at a certain time was allowing enough time to follow the planned procedure and drop 3 drops in at a specific time. I had to allow my self time to drop the solution into the iodine so I could get as close to my target time as possible. Also the stop watch measures to one hundredth of a second. This could have been better by using another more accurate stopwatch but for our investigation it wasnt too big a factor. However with the equipment we had to measure time, the best results were found. Measuring of Solution The method to test the solution for traces of glucose was preformed accurately and the iodine preformed its job perfectly on all occasions. Each time it did this it was a fair test there was little to no variation in the amount of Iodine in each section of the spot tile. Reliability There was only one significant problem found in the test was that the concentration of amylase was never suitable to fit our plan so we had to change the plan and test for a reaction over a shorter amount of time. However this aside the accuracy and reliability of the results and conclusions are very good. Improvements The procedure used was simple and straightforward, however only one difficulty was encountered as mentioned before. This was the concentration of the amylase. A small improvement could have been made by testing the concentration of the amylase at the start before starting our experiment. Alternatively, our own concentrations of amylase could have been made up, as to ensure that the amylase was always the same concentration. We could of also have taken results at different temperatures to increase our range of results this would of helped dramatically to able us to a see a trend more clearly. More repeats could be taken but I dont think this would add much to the accuracy of the conclusions. More accurate equipment could have been used but again but I dont think this would add much to the accuracy of the conclusions. Extending the investigation Suggestions have already been made to extend the investigation to improve our knowledge of enzyme activity. After having previously found out about how temperature affects one particular enzyme, we could test other enzymes but according to my background knowledge most enzymes function at body temperature anyway. We could also test to see what the effects of PH have on enzyme activity and test to find out the optimum PH. Then we would have a full set of results to show the overall best conditions for enzyme activity. 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