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Catalase and Hydrogen Peroxide Experiment: Problem: What Happens When A Potato Is Combined With Hydrogen Peroxide?

Potato enzyme lab

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373 views1 page

Catalase and Hydrogen Peroxide Experiment: Problem: What Happens When A Potato Is Combined With Hydrogen Peroxide?

Potato enzyme lab

Uploaded by

Big Cinema
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Catalase and Hydrogen Peroxide Experiment

How do living cells interact with the environment around them? All living things possesscatalysts, or substances within them that
speed up chemical reactions and processes. Enzymes are molecules that enable the chemical reactions that occur in all living things
on earth. In this catalase and hydrogen peroxide experiment, we will discover how enzymes act as catalysts by causing chemical
reactions to occur more quickly within living things. Using a potato and hydrogen peroxide, we can observe how enzymes like catalase
work to perform decomposition, or the breaking down, of other substances. Catalase works to speed up the decomposition of
hydrogen peroxide into oxygen and water. We will also test how this process is affected by changes in the temperature of the potato. Is
the process faster or slower when compared to the control experiment conducted at room temperature?

Problem: What happens when a potato is combined with hydrogen peroxide?


Materials
1 Potato
Hydrogen peroxide
Small glass beaker or cup

Procedure
1. Divide the potato into three roughly equal sections.
2. Keep one section raw and at room temperature.
3. Place another section in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.
4. Boil the last section for at least 5 minutes.
5. Chop and mash a small sample (about a tablespoon) of the room temperature potato and place into beaker or cup.
6. Pour enough hydrogen peroxide into the cup so that potato is submerged and observe.
7. Repeat steps 5 & 6 with the boiled and frozen potato sections.

Observations & Results


Watch each of the potato/hydrogen peroxide mixtures and record what happens. The bubbling reaction you see is the metabolic
process of decomposition, described earlier. This reaction is caused by catalase, an enzyme within the potato. You are observing
catalase breaking hydrogen peroxide into oxygen and water. Which potato sample decomposed the most hydrogen peroxide? Which
one reacted the least?

Why?
You should have noticed that the boiled potato produced little to no bubbles. This is because the heat degraded the catalase enzyme,
making it incapable of processing the hydrogen peroxide. The frozen potato should have produced fewer bubbles than the room
temperature sample because the cold temperature slowed the catalase enzyme’s ability to decompose the hydrogen peroxide. The
room temperature potato produced the most bubbles because catalase works best at a room temperature.

Conclusions

Catalase acts as the catalyzing enzyme in the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide. Nearly all living things possess catalase, including
us! This enzyme, like many others, aids in the decomposition of one substance into another. Catalase decomposes, or breaks down,
hydrogen peroxide into water and oxygen.

Want to take a closer look? Go further in this experiment by looking at a very small sample of potato combined with hydrogen peroxide
under a microscope!

Author: Justine Rembac


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