Effect of Temperature on Enzyme Activity

Effect of temperature on enzyme activity
In this experiment…
Independent variable: Temperature of the amylase
Dependent variable: Enzyme activity which is measured by the time for disappearance of starch
Controlled variables: Volume of amylase; volume of starch solution; concentration of amylase; concentration of starch solution

Prediction of results

i) At low temperature, the rate of amylase activity is very low.
ii) At optimum (=best) temperature, the rate of amylase activity is the highest.
iii) Increase the temperature below the optimum temperature, the rate of amylase activity increases
iv) At high temperature (beyond the optimum temperature), the rate of amylase activity is very low.
3. Precautions – why?
1. The starch and amylase solutions must be left in the water bath for 5 minutes before mixing.
(To make sure that the starch and amylase have enough time to reach the required temperature before mixed.
2. The dropper must be cleaned before transferring each mixture into the iodine drop?
(To prevent contamination by previous mixtures which can affect the results.
|Temperature / ˚C               |Time for disappearance of starch / min                             |Relative activity                       |
|0                             |>12                                                               |0                                       |
|10                             |>12                                                               |0                                       |
|20                             |11                                                                 |1/11 = 0.09                             |
|30                             |9                                                                 |1/9 = 0.11                             |
|40                             |7                                                                 |1/7 = 0.14                             |
|50                             |9... [continues]

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