Conor Wight

Mrs. Lyon
AP Biology
10/17/2015
Procedure of step #5
To determine if liver will cause a reaction with hydrogen peroxide
1. Add a small piece of liver to 1 mL of hydrogen peroxide in a test
tube
2. Record observations and rate the reaction
3. Pour the hydrogen peroxide into another test tube, leaving the
liver in the original test tube
4. Add a new piece of liver to the new test tube with the old
hydrogen peroxide
5. Add a new mL of hydrogen peroxide to the old liver
6. Record observations and rate the reaction(s)
Data Table;
Reactants with H2O2
Glass beads
Manganese dioxide
(MnO2)
Potato

Rate of Reaction
No reaction occurred
Quick
Immediate
Small in size
Slow
Medium in size

Liver

Quick
Large in size

Used Liver

Quick
Small in size
No reaction

Used H2O2
Ground liver

Quick
Large

Other Observations
No reaction occurred
Reaction was small in
size, though it
happened quickly
Large amount of
bubbles were created
around the edges of
the potato
Greater amount of
bubbles than the
potato
Liver still able to react
with fresh H2O2
Means reactants in
H2O2 used up in
previous reaction
No discernable
difference between
this reaction and
reaction in which
unaltered liver was
used

Heated Liver

No reaction

Cooled Liver

Slow

Liver in HCL

Slow

The heated liver

caused no reaction to
occur
The cooled liver
caused a slower
reaction to occur
The HCL caused the
reaction to occur
slower

Paragraphs
1. No reaction occurred when the glass beads were added to the
hydrogen peroxide. This is because the glass beads do not
contain enzymes, meaning there is no way for the beads to
chemically break down the hydrogen peroxide.
2. The reaction between the manganese dioxide (MnO2) and
hydrogen peroxide occurred very quickly, and was small in size.
The MnO2 acts as a catalyst in the reaction, and breaks up the
hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) into Hydrogen (H2O) and Oxygen (O).
As a result of its role as a catalyst, the manganese dioxide is not
consumed in the reaction, allowing it to still react with extra H2O2
when it is added.
3. The reaction with the potato is slow, and was medium in size. A
great deal of bubbles formed only around the edges of the
potato; this is because potato contains the enzyme catalase. The
reaction between catalase and H2O2 results in the breaking down
of H2O2, leaving just water and oxygen in the form of bubbles.
4. The reaction between liver and H2O2 is both quick and large in
terms of the size of the reaction. Even more bubbles materialize
in this reaction when compared to the reaction between potato
and H2O2. This is most likely due to the difference in the physical
size of the liver and the piece of potato due to the fact that each
reaction occurs for the same reason; catalase. Liver contains this
enzyme, the same one potato contains which is responsible for
the breaking down of H2O2.
5. When tested to see which material was used up, the liver or the
H2O2, it was found that the H2O2 was used up while the liver was
able to produce another reaction with fresh H2O2. This is due to
the fact that while the H2O2 in the preliminary reaction was
completely broken down, the livers enzymes were able to break
down more H2O2 due to the very nature of enzymes. The same
enzyme can be used over and over again; it does not deteriorate
during a reaction. The same enzymes that broke down the H2O2

6.

7.

8.

9.

in the first reaction broke down the new H2O2 sampling in the
second reaction.
The reaction between the ground up liver and H2O2 exhibited very
little difference to the reaction between unaltered liver and H2O2.
This is due to the fact that the chemical components of the
enzymes could not be changed by the physical alteration of the
liver through the mashing. This means that the enzymes were
still able to break down the H2O2.
There was no reaction between the heated liver and the H2O2.
This is because the heating of the liver caused the enzymes to
be denatured, causing the loss of the properties, which allowed
the enzymes to break down H2O2.
The reaction between the cooled liver and H2O2 was notably
slower than the reaction between unaltered liver and H2O2. This
is because enzymes work the best in optimal conditions; one
such condition is that the temperature be around 37 Celsius.
The cooling of the liver took the enzyme out of this optimal
temperature, meaning the enzyme could still carry out the
reaction but at a less efficient rate.
The reaction between the liver and the hydrogen peroxide when
hydrochloric acid (HCL) is added is slower in comparison to
unaltered liver and hydrogen peroxide. This is because, similar to
the temperature issue when the liver was cooled, the enzyme
was taken out of its optimal conditions by having its preferred pH
drop from 7 or a relatively neutral level to a far more acidic level.
The drop in pH is due to coming into contact with HCL, which is
highly acidic.