Salivary amylase question
Graph for student A should have dilutions on y axis and time on x axis, sort of like the graph
below
1:99
1:49
1:19
1:9
20 40
Time
60
80
100
120 140
b.
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initially enzyme catalyzed the reaction, but at a greater dilution enzyme was diluted to a
point that the rate of the reaction slowed
enzyme reaction started at a very fast rate and then slowed over time
the saliva from the students contained a different initial amount of salivary amylase, this
explains why the initial rate at 1:9 was different for each student
iodine is not able to detect starch at low concentrations
c.
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a competitive inhibitor could be involved such as another starch which decreased the rate
of the reaction
a non-competitive inhibitor could be involved
student b may have a very high concentration of amylase within his saliva
as substrate runs out the rate of the reaction decreases
pH of starch solution might not be at optimal level for enzyme to work
temperature of starch solution might not be at optimal level for enzyme to work
d.
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For temperature: use same enzyme concentration but have starch solution at 4 C, 20 C,
60 C and 100 C to find optimal temperature for amylase action
For pH: use same enzyme concentration but have starch solution at pH 3, pH 5, pH 7, pH
9 and pH 11 to find optimal pH for amylase action
For substrate concentration: use same enzyme concentration and change concentration of
starch to see if the rate of the reaction increases with increasing substrate concentration,
up to a certain point when all enzyme is being used to catalyze reactions breaking down
the substrate
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For competitive inhibitors: remove inhibitors but also test with different inhibitors
present such as another starch solution, monosaccharide solution, disaccharide solution
 For non-competitive inhibitors: remove non-competitive inhibitor if possible and test
again with starch solutions and different concentrations of enzyme
For each experiment you would want to collect data pertaining to the time it takes for a reaction
and have a way to test for the amount of substrate or enzyme remaining