Enzyme Concentration and Rate of Reaction

by Donna Sigh

Submitted : Fall 2013

This project focuses on how the concentration of a substrate is related to its reaction rate with an enzyme and how one can find the maximum rate reaction and ideal concentration of the substrate for the enzyme to perform its best. If the concentrations of the substrate and the enzyme are known, then by using differential equations the maximum reaction rate can be found. By using the absorbances recorded from an experiment with catechol and polyphenol oxidase, the initial velocity can be found, then the reciprocals of the substrate concentration ([S]) and initial velocity (V_i) can be used to determine V_max, or 1 over the slope intercept, and the slope of the graph, which is K/V_max. This follows the Michaelis-Menten differential equation as well as the Lineweaver-Burk plot.

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