Ahmet Ulusoy College

Biology Higher Level Internal Assessment

The Effect of Surface Area of Potato on the Reaction
between Catalase Enzyme and Hydrogen Peroxide





Candidate Name: evval Beli
Candidate Number: 006615-006


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Research Question
How does the surface area of potatoes affect the reaction between catalase enzyme inside it
and hydrogen peroxide?

Objective
To find out the effect of interacting surface area of potatoes in reaction with hydrogen
peroxide.

Background Information
Catalysts are substances that increase the rate of a chemical reaction without themselves
undergoing chemical changes. (Ford, 2009) Enzymes are usually considered as biological or
metabolic catalysts as they increase the rate of many metabolic reactions within organisms.
They are essential for the survival of organisms, especially humans as they speed up and
authorize many reactions that are impossible to occur at normal body temperature, 37 C.

Graph 1: How enzymes decreases the activation energy needed to start a reaction (Rutgers
New Brunswick/Piscataway Campus, 2007).
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Catalase is an enzyme that is found in nearly all living organisms which have faced oxygen.
Catalase enzyme converts hydrogen peroxide, which is dangerous for humans, into water and
oxygen gas. It is a very important enzyme in protecting the cell from oxidative
damage by reactive oxygen species (ROS). Likewise, catalase has one of the highest turnover
numbers of all enzymes; one catalase molecule can convert millions of molecules of hydrogen
peroxide to water and oxygen each second (Goodsell, 2004). In this experiment, catalase
enzyme in potatoes is allowed to react with hydrogen peroxide. Balanced equation for this
reaction can be written as:
2H
2
O
2


2H
2
O + O
2

There are many factors that affect the enzyme activity, such as enzyme and substrate
concentration, temperature and pH (Hartnell College, 2010). The effect of active surface area
of potatoes on the formation of froth (H
2
O + O
2
) in the reaction with hydrogen peroxide is
observed in this experiment.

Hypothesis
Increasing the surface area of potato will cause more catalase enzyme to react with hydrogen
peroxide in a shorter period of time, thus increasing the amount of froth produced.




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Design
Variables
Independent Variable
Surface area of potato cubes will be varied.
Dependent Variable
The amount of froth produces will change according to the surface area of potato
cubes.
Controlled Variables
Temperature of the hydrogen peroxide solution was kept constant throughout the
experiment.
Potatoes were at room temperature.
Same brand of graduated cylinders are used for each trial.
Same timer is used for each trial.

Materials
Graduated cylinder, 100 cm
3
(1 cm
3
) (4)
Graduated cylinder, 10 cm
3
(0.2 cm
3
) (1)
Beaker, 100 cm
3
(5 cm
3
) (1)
Timer (1 s) (1)
Scalpel (1)
Cutting board (1)
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Raw potato (5)
Chemicals
Hydrogen peroxide

Safety Equipment
Goggles
Lab coat
Gloves
Caution: Skin contact with hydrogen peroxide may cause irritation, redness and
scaling (ORICA Chemicals, 2009). Gloves should be worn while handling hydrogen
peroxide and wearing goggles and a lab coat throughout the experiment is strongly
suggested.

Setting up Experiment
1. Clean graduated cylinders with distilled water, rinse with distilled water and let them
dry.
2. Peel potatoes and cut them in 10 cubes with 2.0 cm length, 20 cubes with 1.0 cm
length, 40 cubes with 0.5 cm length and 80 cubes with 0.25 cm length.
3. Pour 15 cm
3
hydrogen peroxide into 100 cm
3
beaker.
4. Label graduated cylinders from 1 to 4.

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Procedure
1. Place 5 potato cubes with 2.0 cm length in graduated cylinder 1,
10 cubes with 1.0 cm length in graduated cylinder 2,
20 cubes with 0.5 cm length in graduated cylinder 3,
40 cubes with 0.25 cm length in graduated cylinder 4, using tongs.
2. Add 2 cm
3
of hydrogen peroxide to the graduated cylinders using a plastic pipette.
3. Start the timer and observe the signs of a chemical reaction in the graduated cylinders
for ten minutes. Stop the timer and take measurements of the heights of froth formed
in each test tube, using a ruler. Record the results in the data table.
4. Repeat steps 1 to 3 three times in order to have results for three trials.
5. Clean all glassware used in the experiment and dispose chemicals appropriately.









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Data Collection
These observations were made after the addition of hydrogen peroxide to the graduated
cylinders:
Immediately after addition of the hydrogen peroxide, bubbles started to form on potato
cubes.
Froth formation was observed in graduated cylinder D few seconds after the addition
of hydrogen peroxide, followed by C, B and A respectively.


Graduated Cylinder A B C D
Length of Potato Cubes
(0.5 mm)
2.0 1.0 0.5 0.25
Number of Potato Cubes 5 10 20 40
A
m
o
u
n
t

o
f

f
r
o
t
h

f
o
r
m
e
d

(

1
c
m
3
)

Trial 1 47 56 69 85
Trial 2 42 50 72 87
Trial 3 43 53 65 82
Average (1cm
3
) 44 53 68.7 84.7
Table 1: Experimental data showing the amount of froth produced relative to the surface
area of potato cubes.



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Processed Data
Experimental data given in Table 1 can be used to show the relation between the amount of
froth produced in each graduated cylinder and the surface area of the potato cubes. Initially,
all experimental data is plotted in Graph 2 in order to investigate the trend between surface
area and amount of froth produced.


Graph 2: Amount of froth produced relative to the surface area of potato cubes in each trial.

As seen in Graph 2, the amount of froth produced rises as the active surface area of the potato
cubes increases. This continuous increase in the volume of froth produced can be understood
via visualizing the structure of the catalase enzyme in potato. Enzymes have unique active
sites to bind with one specific substrate, hydrogen peroxide in this case. As the potato cubes
have been cut to halve the volume and the amount of cubes increased accordingly, catalase
enzyme will have a larger active site which will allow it to bind with more hydrogen peroxide
molecules in a shorter period of time, thus producing more froth made of water molecules and
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
1 2 3 A
m
o
u
n
t

o
f

F
r
o
t
h

P
r
o
d
u
c
e
d

(

1
c
m
3
)

Trial
Amount of Froth Produced in Each
Graduated Cylinder
Graduated Cylinder A, 5
potato cubes with 2 cm length
(0.5 mm)
Graduated Cylinder B, 10
potato cubes with 1 cm length
(0.5 mm)
Graduated Cylinder C, 20
potato cubes with 0.5 cm
length (0.5 mm)
Graduated Cylinder D, 40
potato cubes with 0.25 cm
length (0.5 mm)
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oxygen. Differences between the amounts of froth produced in each trial are most probably
caused by random errors which will be evaluated at the end of this report.

Graph 3: Average amount of precipitate formed relative to the length of potato cubes.
To be able to observe the general trend of the froth produced from the reaction between
hydrogen peroxide and the catalase enzyme in potato according to the surface area of potato
cubes, average volume of froth produced in each graduated cylinder has been plotted relative
to the length of potato cubes. As the data points plotted in Graph 3 showed a gradually
decreasing trend, inverse exponent function is used as the line of best-fit. A superficial glance
to Graph 3 suggests an accurate choice of function as the curve passes through all data points.
Further analysis on the graph, such as evaluating the root mean square error (RMSE) value,
0.2633, which indicates a very good fit supports this statement and thus, it could be concluded
that the amount of froth produced shows an inversely exponential trend as the surface area of
potato cubes increase.


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Conclusion
Data given and processed above provided enough information to answer the research
question. As the surface area of the potato cubes increased (length of each side is halved and
the number of cubes doubled to increase the surface area in the experiment), the amount of
froth also showed a proportionate increase. This supports the hypothesis given, increasing the
surface area of potatoes caused more hydrogen peroxide molecules to react with the catalase
enzyme in potatoes more quickly, thus raising the rate of reaction.

Diagram 1: Enzyme represents catalase in potatoes, and substrate is a H
2
O
2
molecule; A and
B are the products of their reaction, H
2
O and O
2
(NSW Education & Communities, 2013).

Evaluation
Even though the line of best-fit passed through all data points and RMSE value was very low,
indicating a good fit in Graph 3, there were some slight variations of data points from the
curve which are most probably caused by random errors. These random errors may be
droplets of water left in the graduated cylinders after cleaning. Addition of water is known to
make enzymes work faster up to a point; hence the droplets in the graduated cylinders may
have caused some amount of increase in the froth produced.
The temperature of the environment and hydrogen peroxide and potatoes were tried to keep
constant via turning off the air conditioner, closing the windows and regularly checking the
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temperature of the room; however this experiment was done in an open environment and so
they have probably been affected by the external temperature and oxygen.

Improvements
Factor Possible Effect on the
Experiment
Improvement
Some droplets of water left
in the test tubes.
Causing Catalase enzyme to
work faster, leading to an
increase in the amount of
froth produced.
Making sure that all
equipment is dry before the
beginning of the experiment.
Environmental conditions Even though the temperature
of the room and some other
factors were tried to keep
constant, the experiment was
done in an open
environment, most probably
causing random errors in the
results.
Repeating the experiment in
a closed system, isolated
from the interference of extra
materials.
Heat exchange with the
environment
If heat is gained from the
environment, the Catalase
enzyme will work faster,
causing the amount of froth
produced to increase.
Repeating the experiment in
an insulated system.
Possible inaccurate
observations of the
experimenter
Cause the experimenter to
enter inaccurate data in the
data table, consequently
increasing the percentage
error for the processed data.
Making more than one
experimenter take readings
of the froth produced.


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Works Cited
Ford, C. B. (2009). Higher Level Chemistry. Malaysia: Pearson Education Limited.
Goodsell, D. (2004, September). RCSB Protein Data Bank- Catalase. Retrieved October 08, 2013,
from http://www.rcsb.org/pdb/101/motm.do?momID=57.
Hartnell College. (2010). Factors Affecting Enzyme Activity. Retrieved October 09, 2013, from
http://www.hartnell.edu/faculty/shovde/chem23/Enzymes/ENZFAC.htm.
ORICA Chemicals. (2009, June 12). Material Safety Data Sheet- Hydrogen Peroxide. Retrieved
October 09, 2013, from http://msds.orica.com/pdf/shess-en-cds-010-000030112401.pdf.
NSW Education & Communities. (2013). Biology 92 Maintaining a balance: 1. Temperature range.
Retrieved October 08, 2013, from http://www.hsc.csu.edu.au/biology/core/balance/9_2_1/921net.html

Warning signs were retrieved from:
http://www.seton.net.au/signs-labels/labels/safety-labels/mandatory-pictos/international-labels-lab-
coat-picto-s9334.html
http://www.jactone.com/health-safety-signs/personal-protection/eye-protection/wear-goggles-
symbol.html on October 4, 2013