Paper Summary:

This paper describes proteins which are enzymes, and an experiment carried out to measure the optimal pH and temperature of the reaction between the enzyme alpha-amylase and starch. The author explains that enzymes are natural biochemical catalysts that selectively speed up chemical reactions. These enzymes can be greatly affected by the pH and temperature of the environment they are in and have optimal conditions in which they work most efficiently. Using light spectrometry and a variety of pH levels and temperatures to find a maximum efficiency of this protein, the author recorded absorbance levels to show the optimal pH and temperature of this reaction.

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From the Paper:

"The experiment was done with variations in two different environmental factors, pH and temperature, and separate data were taken for each. For both experiments, a blank was prepared using 5mL distilled water and 0.1mL of I2KI indicator placed in a cuvette. This cuvette was used to set the spectrophotometer to zero absorbance with the wavelength set at 560nm. 0.1 mL of I2KI indicator was placed in 11 cuvettes for each experiment. For the temperature variation, six different water baths were made at 15, 30, 45, 55, 60, and 70 C. In each water bath a solution of 35mL starch and 35mL distilled water was mixed in an Erlenmeyer flask and allowed sufficient time to reach the given temperature."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Campbell and Reece. 2005. Biology 7th edition. Benjamin Cummings, San Francisco.
• Vliet. 2007. A Lab Manual For Integrated Principles of Biology 3rd edition. Pearson, Boston.

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