Name: Nicholas Mack

Block: 3

Group Members names: Jake Sasfai, Salem Belay, Maya Gujaral

The Effect and Functionality of Enzymes

Hypothesis (for Part V)

If more Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is added to a piece of liver, then the reaction
between the solute and the liver will continue until the liver uses and consumes
the solution.
Materials (for all parts)
Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2)

Small piece of liver

Sand or glass beads

Test Tubes

1 Potato

Manganese dioxide (MnO2)

Hot water bath

Crushed ice bath

Hydrochloric acid (HCl)

Mortar & Pestle

Procedure (for Part V)

1. Obtain a test tube and place a small piece of liver inside of it.

2. Add exactly 1 mL of H2O2 to test tube.

3. Wait 60 seconds for reaction to occur. If a reaction does occur, wait until the
reaction stops to proceed.

4. Record data.

5. Once reaction stops add 2 more mL of H2O2 to solution. Wait 60 seconds for
reaction to start.

6. Record when reaction is complete

7. Obtain a new test tube and add the same amount of liver.

8. Conduct the same procedure as Test Tube 1 (add 1 mL of H2O2,,record, add 2

more mL of H2O2, record)

Results:
Reactants with H2O2 and Observations
Reactants with H2O2
1. Glass beads

Rate of Reaction (Slow,

Moderate, Fast)
Slow-None

2. Manganese dioxide
(MnO2)

Fast

3. Potato

Slow to Moderate

4. Liver

Fast

5. 2 mL more of H2O2 added

to liver

Test Tube 1: Fast

Test Tube 2: Fast
Hypothesis proven.

6. Ground liver

Fast

7. Heated Liver (in bath)

Slow

8. Cooled Liver (in ice bath)

9. Liver with HCL added

Fast
Fast

Other Observations
When the solution was
added, the beads changed
very little and the reaction
was slow.
Gas formation, Fizzing, Test
Tube becomes very cloudy
as gas forms.
Lot of bubbles forming,
potato has little movement
Reaction instantaneous
upon impact, lot of gas
formation, bubbles began to
overflow from the test tube
after about 30 seconds
since reaction started.
Reaction continued for 5
more minutes.
Reaction continued for
another 90 seconds for both
test tubes after 2 more mL
of solution was added. Size
of liver had no apparent
effect on reaction.
Similar reaction, liver was
broken up and scattered
about the test tube, more
gas formation
There was very little
reaction once heated liver
was added to the solution.
Reaction was slow.
Fast and very instantaneous
HCL seemed to have a
noticeable effect on the rate
of reaction.

Discussion:
The following are paragraphs that include observations and explanations for each step in
the experiment.
1. When Hydrogen peroxide was added to 4 glass beads in a test tube, no reaction
occurred and both reactants remained intact. The group waited approximately 60
seconds for a reaction to occur but, unlike other parts in this experiment, no
movement occurred at all. An explanation for this is that the glass beads contained
no enzymes so no reaction took place. Because the beads were solid at RT and
were not made up of any significant chemicals and / or enzymes, there was
nothing that could react with the Hydrogen peroxide, thus explaining this result.
2. When MnO2 was added to H2O2, an instantaneous reaction took place between the two reactants,
causing gas formation and slight color change. The reason why this reaction took place is because both
reactants entered into a double replacement reaction where Manganese and Hydrogen combined with
Oxygen. From further investigation, the students concluded that the products of this reaction
(unbalanced) were MnO + H2O. This equation pointed out that water was formed as a product of this
reaction. Therefore, due to this evidence, it can be concluded that the reason why such an instantaneous
reaction occurred was because the two reactants engaged in a double replacement reaction and water (in
this case water vapor) was formed as a result.
3. The reaction between the potato and Hydrogen peroxide was slow because the potato contained little
enzymes that could catalyze and attempt to de-poison the solution. It was evident that there was no
reaction because when the Hydrogen peroxide came in contact with the potato, the potato didnt move or
digest the solution, as the liver did. This reaction shows that prime difference between the structures of
the liver and the potato. The potato is a starch that is used for storage in plants. Although many types of
enzymes exist that break down starches, the potato itself didnt contain a lot of enzymes, thus explaining
why it barely reacted with the Hydrogen peroxide. Liver, on the other hand, is comprised of proteins
which, according to this experiment, contain lots of enzymes that can be used to digest Hydrogen
peroxide. Liver is analyzed is parts 4-9 in this experiment.
4. When Hydrogen peroxide was added to a small piece of liver, there was an instantaneous reaction
between the two, leading to gas formation and a slight color change in the liver. This part of this
experiment took the longest because, as noted in our data, it took about 5 minutes for the reaction to
begin and conclude. From this evidence, it can be concluded that liver does contain an enzyme (or
enzymes) that attempted to catalyze and de-poison the solution. Although the students do not know
exactly what elements made up the livers enzymes, these enzymes were able to successfully catalyze
the reaction with the Hydrogen peroxide.
5. When 2 more mL of Hydrogen peroxide was added to the test tube (Test Tube 1), the reaction seemed to
restart again and continue for another 60 seconds. The same phenomenon happened again in Test Tube 2
where a similar size of liver was used and, after 1 mL of Hydrogen peroxide was added and that reaction
occurred, 2 more mL of the same solution was added. From this evidence, it can be concluded that the
Hydrogen peroxide was the limiting reactant in this reaction and it was this which affected the rate of the
reaction, not the liver itself. Once the reaction initiated, the liver began to absorb the Hydrogen
peroxide. The enzymes in the liver catalyzed the reaction and changed the solution, causing an
instantaneous reaction to take place. Thus, from this evidence, we can conclude that unlike the potato
which contained very few enzymes, liver contained many enzymes which are used to catalyze reactions.
6. Crushing the liver had no noticeable effect on the rate of reaction. Like previous trials, the reaction
between the liver (crushed or not) and the Hydrogen peroxide was instantaneous and fast. The crushed

liver could have had a slight effect on the rate of reaction because, since the liver was broken into very
small pieces, it might have been easier for the enzymes in the liver to break up the molecules in the
Hydrogen peroxide and catalyze the reaction. This, however, is unproved because the students did not
see any noticeable differences between the crushed and uncrushed livers.
7. For this part of the experiment, the liver was heated in water and then placed in a test tube to be reacted
with the Hydrogen peroxide. During the reaction, the students noticed that the rate was much slower
than the previous trials. When the Hydrogen peroxide and the liver came in contact with each other, the
reaction was not as instantaneous as before and the effects of the reaction were not as intense or
dramatic. A possible explanation for these results is that while heating the liver increased its thermal
energy, it also simultaneously caused the denaturation of the enzymes. Heating the liver physically
weakened the functionality of the enzymes in the liver, causing less of a reaction to take place.
8. On the other hand, while heating the liver caused a decrease in the rate of the reaction, cooling the liver
had no noticeable effect on the liver. When a piece of liver (cooled inside an ice bucket for 10 minutes)
was placed in 1 mL of hydrogen peroxide, the reaction occurred as it normally would. A possible
explanation for this is that while heating the liver denatured the enzymes in the liver and inhibited their
functionality, cooling the liver might have stabilized the pH of the liver. In addition, the livers
temperature was warmer than it should have been in this experiment which may explain why nothing
noticeable happened. If the liver were any cooler (below freezing perhaps), then the temperature of the
liver would have denatured the livers enzymes and decreased the rate of reaction.
9. When hydrochloric acid was placed inside the test tube with the liver, a familiar instantaneous reaction
took place. Similar to other trials in this experiment, the solution began to bubble and emit gas. This
reaction proves that increases the acidity of Hydrogen peroxide increased the rate of the reaction and the
overall functionality of the livers enzymes. By adding more acidity (increase in pH level) in the form of
HCl to the reactants, the livers enzymes were able to work faster and a quicker reaction took place.

Sources:
NONE