Enzymes and
Hydrogen Peroxide
Jennifer Arazia and Grace Yoon
Objectives
 The Goal
To test and observe the effect and time of the chemical reaction of hydrogen
peroxide and the enzyme catalase.
We are going to be testing the effect of hydrogen peroxide when chemically
reacting with catalase. We will be doing this by using chicken liver, which
contains this enzyme, a few drops of hydrogen peroxide, and a few other
materials (which will be listed).
Background Information
 What is Hydrogen Peroxide?
Hydrogen peroxide is the simplest type of peroxide. Its symbol is H2O2.
Hydrogen peroxide reacts with an enzyme called catalase, which decomposes
H2O2 into oxygen gas.
The equation for this reaction is as follows:
2H2O2  2H2O + O2
Catalase: An enzyme that catalyzes the reduction of hydrogen peroxide.
Procedures
Step 1: Gather the materials and put on the necessary equipment (starred).
*Note: Though an entire bottle of hydrogen peroxide or a whole can of chicken liver will not necessarily be needed, they have been
listed as those for simplicity.
 A bottle of hydrogen peroxide
 chicken liver
 Safety goggles*
 Lab apron
 Stopwatch
 Disposable pipet
 Watch glass
Procedures (Cont.)
Step 2: Make sure that your materials (dropper and dish especially) are clean and
have not been contaminated with other substances. If needed, wash the
materials before using them.
Step 3: You will need a dime-sized piece of chicken liver.
(The larger the piece, the longer the reaction will take.)
Place the liver on the dish.
Procedures (Cont.)
Step 4: You may turn on the stopwatch, but do not start it yet. Now, take the
dropper and squeeze it inside the hydrogen peroxide bottle to gather some of
the substance. Get ready to start the stopwatch. After you let a few drops (3-5
should be sufficient) fall onto the piece of chicken liver, start the stopwatch.
Step 5: Observe the piece of liver very carefully. A chemical
reaction is taking place between the catalase in the liver and
the hydrogen peroxide drops. The reaction should be very
apparent, and start immediately. There should be much
fizzing and bubbles should be appearing on and around the
liver.
Procedures (Cont.)
Step 5 (cont.): Jot down observations onto a similar data table to the one below.
(remember to always have the time in seconds)
You will know when the reaction has stopped because the
liver will stop fizzing and bubbling. There
may still be leftover bubbles, but the
liver will stop producing more when
the reaction has been completed.
Procedures (Cont.)
Step 6: Finally, after recording your observations and the time it took for the
chemical reaction to complete, you will have completed our objective and goal.
Therefore, you can reach a few conclusions about your experiment …
 How long did it take for the reaction to complete?
 What kind of effect did the catalase have on the hydrogen peroxide?
 What observations can you make about the reaction?
 How has the liver changed from before the reaction to after, if it did at
all?
Step 7: The last and final step is one of the most important. Clean up your
materials. Make sure to wash the watch glass and place the liver and dropper in
the garbage. Put all of the materials where they belong, wash your hands, and
your experiment has been completed.
Works Cited Page
 What Sources were Used?
http://www.docstoc.com/docs/5184999/lab-safety-symbols: The lab safety page in
PowerPoint (also known from previous science books)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydrogen_peroxide: For the hydrogen peroxide definition in
the PowerPoint
http://www.google.com/search?q=hydrogen+peroxide&rlz=1C1SKPL_enUS428&aq=0&oq
=hydrogen+peroxide&sugexp=chrome,mod=0&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF8#hl=en&rlz=1C
1SKPL_enUS428&sclient=psyab&q=catalase+definition&oq=catalase+definition&
gs_l=serp.3..0i20l2j0l2.6039.7977.1.7992.11.4.0.0.0.0.612.706.1j51.2.0.les%3Bepsugrer..0.0..
.1.1.5Aa92aX1QDw&pbx=1&bav=on.2,or.r_gc.r_pw.r_qf.&fp=5936a6d8fe4522bb&bi
w=1120&bih=610: For the definition of catalase in the PowerPoint
Background images were taken from Google with all respect to their owners.
All other images were taken by Jennifer Araiza and Grace Yoon.
The PowerPoint was made by Jennifer Araiza and Grace Yoon.
The information was taken from the same experiment performed by Jennifer and Grace Yoon.
Our amazing PowerPoint ©