Jonathan Khan December 5, 2010

Ms. Crowley AP Biology Weekend Assignment #1

[Dissolved Oxygen Levels At Different TImes of Day 1. Graph

a. Graph

O2 Given
O2 Predicted

6:00 8:00 10:00 12:00 2:00 4:00 6:00 8:00 10:00 12:00

Time
b. The biological processes responsible for these results are photosynthesis and respiration. The

photosynthesis creates the oxygen available in the water, and organisms performing cellular

respiration use the oxygen. On an overcast day, the organisms utilizing photosynthesis would not

receive enough sunlight to keep the levels of oxygen where they normally would be, thus

accounting for the second curve.

c. Continued overuse of fertilizers has the effect of removing a limiting factor. This in turn affects

organisms which depend on having that specific factor in a finite amount. An example of this can

be shown in algae blooms. Due to an excess of the phosphorous and nitrogen containing

compounds phosphates PO43- and nitrates NO3- respectively in the soil, some of it eventually will

run off into a bony of water such has a pond. The excess phosphates and nitrates promote the

growth of algae. When the algae die, they fall to the bottom, reducing the depth of the pond.

After time, the pond dries up due to an increase in the amount of organic material that keeps
 building up on the bottom of the pond. Any organisms which were dependent on the pond for

survival are now dead due to the pond drying up. On a larger scale, algae blooms on the ocean

block sunlight. Phytoplankton are dependent on sunlight in order to make food, and to keep the

amount of oxygen dissolved in the water at a set point. When the plankton are unable to receive

sunlight due to the algae on the surface blocking it, they die. When the plankton die, there is

almost no way to replace the amount of oxygen that the plankton place in the water. This leads to

dead zones in the ocean due to the uninhabitable conditions of the water due to a low

concentration of dissolved oxygen.

2. The effects of temperature and pH were studied for an enzyme catalyzed reaction. The following results

were obtained

a. Increase in temperature and pH negatively affect the rate of the reaction. This is due to the

enzyme becoming denatured, otherwise known as to lose its shape, causing it to be unable to fir

with its substrate, and not cause the reaction by being unable to lower the activation energy

[energy needed to start a reaction] to a low enough point for the reaction to take place. The active

site is formed by the interactions of functional (R) groups on the amino acid chain(s). Many

things can affect the rate of enzymatic action. Four of these things are; substrate concentration, a

shift in pH, a shift in temperature, and competitive inhibition. Here, two of these thing will be

discussed; temperature, and pH. By shifting the pH of the environment that the enzyme is

working in, the rate of activity slows down. Most enzymes work best at a neutral pH of 7. If the

pH is shifted too greatly, the enzyme will become denatured, meaning that the shape of the

enzyme has changes, causing the active site’s shape to change, rendering the enzyme unable to

fit with its substrate. Thus forth causing no reaction. A shift in temperature will affect the

reaction in two ways. If temperature is increased, the rate of activity will increase due to an

increase in kinetic energy which causes an increase in the number of effective collisions. After a

few degrees, the enzyme will denature due to a shift too far outside of its operating range,
 causing the reaction to decrease in rate. However, a decrease in temperature will not cause an

enzyme to denature, all it will do is cause a decrease in kinetic energy, causing less effective

collisions, and causing the rate of the reaction to slow down.

b. In order to effectively test the effect of temperature on the rate of enzymatic activity the

following steps need to be carried out.

1. HYPOTHESIS

a. The amount of enzymatic activity is directly proportion to the temperature

of its environment which is directly correlated to the amount of energy

available to cause successful collisions. The enzyme will stop working

after a certain point due to the enzyme denaturing (changing shape) and

being unable to fit with its respective substrate, thus causing no reaction.

ii. Obtain a hydrogen peroxide, and the enzyme catalase. Keep the enzyme on ice at all

times until you are ready to use it.

iii. Measure out 5 equal volumes of 10 mL hydrogen peroxide and place them each in a

separate test tube

iv. Set up 6 different “environments” each having a different temperature of 0°C, 10°C,

25°C, 37°C, 40°C , and100°C.

1. 10°C and 0°C were chosen to show that the rate of reaction is directly dependent

on temperature.

2. 37°C was chosen because it is the temperature of the human body

3. 25°C was chosen because it is close to the temperature of the human body

4. 40°C was chosen to show that a small bit above the set operating point of an

enzyme, its shape changes, thus rendering it useless.

5. The 100°C will be a beaker containing a water bath kept at 100°C by low heat.
 a. Chosen to show what complete denaturation does to the rate of reaction of

an enzyme mediated reaction.

v. Add 5 mL of water to each test tube.

vi. To the solution, now simultaneously add 2 mL of catalase solution from the bottle to each

test tube, and place each test tube in a different environment.

1. The 100°C test tube will be suspended in the bath via a clamp holding the tube in

place.

vii. Allow the reaction to run for one minute then remove each tube from its environment.

viii. Pour the contents of each test tube into a beaker. Using a separate beaker for each tube.

ix. Add 10mL of ammonia and 10 mL of .63M copper II sulfate solution to each of the

beakers.

x. A precipitate will form

xi. Allow the precipitate to settle to the bottom of the beaker before proceeding.

xii. Swirl toe beaker to re suspend the precipitate, pour the solution and precipitate through

filter paper.

1. Make sure to collect the entire solid from each beaker separately, and label each

as to where it came from.

xiii. Dry each sample overnight in a drying oven

xiv. Record the mass of each sample.

xv. The masses of solid are directly proportional to the amount of hydrogen peroxide left en

each test tube after the reaction with the catalase.

xvi. The results are as following

1. 0°C

a. Will have the most solid due to the temperature being too low, and there

being not enough energy to cause successful collisions.

2. 10°C
 a. Will have the second most solid due to the temperature being too low, and

there being not enough energy to cause successful collisions.

3. 25°C

a. Will have the third most solid due to the temperature being enough to

cause successful collisions

4. 37°C

a. Will have the least solid due to the temperature being enough to cause

successful collisions.

5. 40°C

a. Will have the most solid due to the temperature being too high, and the

enzyme denaturing

6. 100°C.

a. Will have the most solid due to the temperature being too high, and the

enzyme denaturing