More Acidic Condition example essay topic

243 words
Analysis From my results I could see that the amylase seemed to break down the starch at a quicker rate when it was in a more acidic condition. When we tested it in an alkaline condition it didn't manage to break down the starch in the hour that we had available. From my graph it is clear that the more acidic the buffer solution the quicker the starch was broken down by the amylase. The graph showed a positive correlation as the length of the reaction increased due to the more alkaline conditions. The neutral buffer solution (PH 7) took nearly 3 times as long as the acidic solution (PH 4) and this contradicts my prediction. I predicted that in a neutral or slightly alkaline condition the rate of the reaction would be the fastest but my results show differently.

These results are not completely accurate because the amylase we used is not the same enzyme as the one in our mouths, it is synthetic and therefore will not work at the exact same rate or in the same conditions as our mouth's. We couldn't test the amylase which is in our mouths as it is unhygienic and isn't safe to use in our school lab. If we had have tested that I would still stick to my original prediction and say that the quickest result would occur around neutral or maybe slightly alkaline conditions.