Biology Criterion B - How The...

9a
Biology
Mr.Mc.Iver
How the rate of oxygen production is affected by increasing the

percentage of hydrogen peroxide in an aqueous solution
Research Question -
What is the effect of changing the concentration of hydrogen peroxide(0%, 5%, 10%,
20% and 30%) on the rate of oxygen produced in the reaction as measured by
measuring the amount of water displaced in an inverted graduated cylinder in water.
Aim -
The aim of the experiment is to find out how the concentration affects the amount of
oxygen produced in a decomposition reaction of hydrogen peroxide.
Background information -
Catalase -
● It is found in almost every organism exposed to oxygen(plants, bacteria and
animals).
● one catalase molecule can convert millions of hydrogen peroxide molecules to
water and oxygen each second, having the highest turnover rate.
● The optimum for human catalase is approximately 7,and has a fairly broad
maximum: the rate of reaction does not change appreciably between pH 6.8 and
7.5. The pH optimum for other catalases varies between 4 and 11 depending on
the species. The optimum temperature also varies by species.
● It converts hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen, the exact reaction(balanced)
is - 2 H2O2 → H2O + O2.
Hydrogen peroxide -
● Hydrogen peroxide is a chemical with the formula H2O2.
● It's the simplest peroxide, but is very harmful to the body and can even kill you if
ingested in unsafe amounts, so it has to be handled with care.
9a
Biology
Mr.Mc.Iver
● It is produced in the cells in an attempt by the body to protect itself from an even
more dangerous substance, superoxide and uses catalase to control this
production.
Hypothesis -
Since the yeast produces catalase and we are not using pure catalase the amount of
oxygen should increase as the concentration of hydrogen peroxide increases until
around the 20-30% range as anything higher than this the yeast would not have enough
catalase to increase the rate of oxygen production(the optimum/maximum amount
would have already been reached). And there are no more collisions that can take place
at any given time.
Independent variable -
The independent variable is the concentration of the hydrogen peroxide(0%, 5%, 10%,
20% and 30%). The hydrogen peroxide will be put in the same beaker in all the runs
and the setup which holds it will not be moved when changing out the beakers and
replacing the yeast “injector”. The water in the inverted graduated cylinder would also
be replaced at the same level of water(50 ml or half of it).
Dependent variable -
I will measure the amount of oxygen produced in the enzyme reaction by connecting the
tube into an inverted graduated cylinder in water, and measure the amount of water
displaced by the oxygen produced.
Controlled variable -
1. The first thing that needs to be controlled is that the amount of water in the
cylinder to begin with has to be more than halfway full as if there is too little water
there might be too much oxygen produced. This would make the water displace
beyond the cylinder and this would mean that you would have to redo the
experiment.
9a
Biology
Mr.Mc.Iver
2. The second thing that has to be kept the same is the volume of hydrogen
peroxide that is put in the beaker in different runs. This is important as if there is
more hydrogen peroxide in a beaker, it would mean that there are more hydrogen
peroxide molecules for the catalase to react with. This means that if there is too
much hydrogen peroxide in the beaker there will not be enough catalase to react
with it as they can only react with one molecule at a time.
3. The third variable that must be controlled is the amount of time that the reaction
is given to take place. If the amount of hydrogen peroxide is more than the
optimum amount required for the amount of catalase, then if there is no limit to
how long the reaction can take place, more oxygen will be produced as the
catalase can break the hydrogen peroxide down and then move on to
another(same applies for amount of catalase(yeast)).
Safety precautions/hazards -
Hydrogen peroxide being an acid, can cause irritation or even burns at high
concentrations to the skin. It is also important to shield the eyes as it can cause
blindness. It is important to wear gloves, goggles and a lab coat/apron while doing this
experiment. Also make sure that all the beakers and syringes that will be used are
completely dry and clean as to not have impurities that could affect the reaction.
Materials required -
● 0%, 5%, 10%, 20% and 30% aqueous solutions of hydrogen peroxide that is not
too old(less than a year or half a year) This is the acid in the reaction.
● Yeast(put concentration here). This is the part that contains the enzyme catalase.
● You will also need at least one beaker to store the hydrogen peroxide in.
● You will also need a syringe to store the yeast in.
● An inverted graduated cylinder is required and another beaker to put it in.
● You will also need safety equipment like a lab coat/apron, goggles and a pair of
gloves.
● You will need a rubber stopper with 2 holes in it for the tubing that comes from
the syringe and the tubing that goes to the inverted graduated cylinder.
9a
Biology
Mr.Mc.Iver
● The final materials that you will need are some tubing(enough to have one piece
from the syringe to the beaker containing the hydrogen peroxide and another to
go from the hydrogen peroxide beaker to the inverted graduated cylinder.
Procedure -
1. Put on all the safety equipment mentioned above.
2. Make sure that all the beakers and materials that will be used in the experiments
are clean and have no impurities in them.
3. Then fill up the graduated cylinder up to a little over half of its markings(so that
the total water level is still around half after the next step)..
4. Then put the beaker on top of it and then flip it over(try to not let any of the water
go out).
5. As soon as the cylinder is flipped add around 50ml of water into the beaker
before too much water escapes from the graduated cylinder.
6. Next suck up 10ml of yeast into the syringe and put one end of a small piece of
tubing(this will go into the main beaker with the hydrogen peroxide.
7. Measure out 50ml of hydrogen peroxide and put it in the main beaker.
8. Now put the rubber stopper on top of it and feed the tubing that goes from the
syringe into it(make sure that the stopper is in well and no air can leak out).
9. The last part of the preparation is to feed the tubing from the main beaker into the
graduated cylinder.
10. Then press down on the syringe and do so at a steady rate and also keep an eye
on the stopwatch and only let out 2ml of yeast every 5 seconds until all the yeast
is gone from the syringe.
11. Record the amount of displacement of the water in the graduated cylinder for
each run.
12. Clean out all the equipment used(including the tubing and cork) and dry them
out.
13. Repeat steps 2-12 for the different percentages of hydrogen peroxide.
9a
Biology
Mr.Mc.Iver

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9a

How the rate of oxygen production is affected by increasing the

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