validation study

• The reaction rate of the digestive enzyme amylase is heavily influenced by the temperature of its environment
• The enzyme will function more efficiently or less efficiently due to the temperature of its environment
• The temperature of the environment in which amylase exists is of great importance, hence the importance of maintaining homeostasis in the body
• As the temperature of the water increased

  The transmittance increased
• Transmittance


  Greater the temperature, the greater the rate of amylase activity
• As temperature increases, the kinetic energy transferred to the amylase molecules increases, increase collision rate and speeding up the rate of activity
• Amylase will begin to denature after reaching its optimum temperature, which the results of this experiment did not illustrate
• Enzymes are key to the function of human life, helping to increase the metabolism of organisms
• Enzyme


  Biological catalyst that regulates the rate of chemical reactions without being altered
• A cell contains thousands of different types of enzyme molecules, each specific to a particular chemical reaction
• Digestive enzymes


  Break down complicated macromolecules into simpler ones (such as simple sugars or monosaccharides, fatty acids and amino acids) so that the body can absorb them
• Primary digestive enzymes made in the pancreas

  • Amylase
  • Lipase
  • Protease
• Amylase digests starch into smaller molecules, yielding maltose cleaved into two glucose molecules by maltase
• Types of amylase


  • Alpha amylase
  • Beta amylase
  • Gamma amylase
• Amylase optimum


  • Optimum pH of 7, becomes deactivated at around pH 4 and denatured around pH 11
  • Optimum temperature of 32-37 degrees Celsius, becomes denatured at around 106 degrees Celsius
• A rise in temperature leads to increased activity, which triggers more collisions between substrate and enzyme
• When the temperature is too high, bonds break, and the enzyme loses its shape, becoming denatured
• When the temperature of the water bath increases, the transmittance of amylase will also increase
• As the temperature of the water bath increases, the rate of enzyme activity increases as well
• This is because a rise in temperature results in a rise in enzyme activity as some of this heat transfers into kinetic energy, increasing the frequency of collisions between molecules
• There is an outlier at 40 degrees Celsius that does not follow the trend, likely due to random errors in the experiment
• Errors such as not wiping the cuvette properly and not orienting it correctly led to a wide range of results at 40 degrees
• As the temperature of the water bath is increased, the transmittance of the enzyme, in this case amylase, will increase
• As the temperature of the water bath increases


  The rate of enzyme activity increases
• Reason for increased enzyme activity with temperature increase

  Rise in temperature results in a rise in kinetic energy of molecules, leading to more frequent collisions with the active site
• There is an outlier in the predominantly linear relationship depicted on the graph, at 40 degrees Celsius
• Cause of outlier at 40 degrees Celsius


  Random error, as seen by the large disparities in the trials
• Errors in the experiment's conduction, such as not wiping the cuvette and not orienting it correctly, led to the wide range of results at 40 degrees Celsius
• Consistency and following the procedure completely would minimise random errors and get accurate results
• For measurements at 68 degrees Celsius and room temperature, results remained fairly consistent for repeat trials
• Besides 1 outlier trial, the other measurements conducted at 50 degrees Celsius were quite similar
• Factors that could have influenced the results with inconsistent trials


  • Instrument imprecision
  • Limited sample size
  • Human error
• The graph does not show the typical 3 distinct sections of a graph for enzyme activity vs temperature
• This is likely due to the difficulties encountered during the experiment, such as varying, inconsistent values for the repeat trials
• Having a larger sample size would reduce the chance of random errors occurring
• The limited range of temperatures available, with the 80-degree water bath not rising above 68 degrees Celsius, impaired the results
• The changing temperatures of the water baths during each trial, such as the 10 degree trial where the ice kept melting, also impaired the results
• The amylase used may not have been human amylase, which has an optimum temperature of 37 degrees, as it did not denature at that temperature
• Different species have different optimum temperatures for amylase activity based on their diets and body temperatures
• Enzymes


  Proteins that are biological catalysts