Required Practical 5: Effect of pH on Amylase

Cards (2)

  • Experiment
    1. Place one drop of iodine solution into each well of a spotting tile
    2. Place 2cm^3 of starch, amylase and pH 5 buffer solutions into 3 different test tubes
    3. Place all 3 tubes in a water bath
    4. Make water bath 30 degrees Celsius for 10m to allow the correct temperature to be reached
    5. Combine the 3 solutions into 1 test tube & mix with a stirring rod
    6. Return the test tube to the water bath and start a stopwatch
    7. After 30s, use stirring rod to transfer one drop of solution to a well in the spotting tile which contains iodine
    8. If iodine turns blue-black, starch is present
    9. Repeat every 30s with other tiles until iodine remains orange, telling us starch is no longer present (reaction complete)
    10. Record time reaction completed at
    11. Repeat whole experiment using different pH buffers (eg 6,7,8)
  • Some possible problems with the experiment are:
    • Samples only taken every 30s (only approximate time for reaction completed)
    • Looking for time when iodine does not go blue-black, not always obvious (only gradual colour change)