Potato Enzyme Lab Report

Introduction
In class, a series of experiments were performed that pertained to the enzyme known as catalase, which converts hydrogen peroxide into oxygen. Due to peroxide being toxic to the tissues of both plants and animals, both possess the enzyme catalase, which breaks into two non-toxic compounds: water and oxygen gas. Enzymes are proteins that react to certain substrates to create a product, and continue doing so afterwards.
Methods and Materials
To test reactions between catalase and hydrogen peroxide, groups of three to four people were formed. A scale of zero to five was used to describe the reactions, with zero being no reaction at all, one being a slow reaction, and five being a very fast reaction. The materials used were a test tube rack, six test tubes, a test tube clamp, forceps, a graduated cylinder, four small pieces of liver, one piece of potato, one piece of hamburger meat, approximately forty milliliters of hydrogen peroxide in a forty milliliter beaker, a splint, and matches. An ice bath and boiling water was required for testing, where a hot plate was used to boil the water. Each test tube given a label, which were “cold”, “room”, “hot”, “warm”, “potato”, “meat”, and

The next test used the test tubes labelled “cold” and , one again using a piece of liver and five milliliters of hydrogen peroxide with both being placed in the ice bath, both held vertical with a test tube clamp. After five minutes were up using a timer, the two tests were conducted. The test involving the boiling water had five milliliters of hydrogen peroxide poured into it. Meanwhile, the five milliliters of hydrogen peroxide was poured into the test tube labelled “cold”. After both tests, explanations were made about the