Effects on Enzymatic Activity

Tyler Mitchell
BSC 118-002
Shon Johnson
November 1, 2011

Abstract

Without the effects of enzymes, many crucial chemical reactions would not be able to take place at the rate of which they were meant to perform. We conducted this series of labs in order to discover the effects of different biological and environmental aspects on enzymatic activity. In our first experiment, we looked at the effects that enzyme concentration had on amylase activity. We hypothesized that the higher the concentration of the enzyme, the higher the rate of reaction would take place. We found that a higher concentration of amylase led to a faster rate of reaction, proving our hypothesis to be correct. In our second experiment, we tested the effect the concentration of substrate would have on enzymatic activity. We hypothesized that the lower concentration of the substrate would not change the speed of the reaction. The experiment proved this hypothesis to be wrong because the speed of the reaction slowed down as the concentration lowered. In the third experiment, we tested the effects that different pH levels would have on enzymatic activity. We hypothesized that the more acidic the solution was, the lower the rate of the reaction will be. In Areekijseree’s article, it states that optimal pH levels for amylase are between 4 and 5, and 6 and 8 (Areekisjseree, Engkagul, Kovitvadhi, Thongpan, Mingmuang, Pakkong, Rungruangsak-Torrissen, 2004). This contradicts our hypothesis, and the results prove that Areekijseree’s data was correct. In the fourth experiment, we tested the effects that different temperatures had on enzymatic activity. We hypothesized that the warmer the environment the substrate is in, the faster the reaction takes place. Our results proved that our hypothesis was correct because the warmest environments resulted in the