A student is planning an experiment to investigate the effect of temperature on enzyme activity. They plan to measure the rate of reaction at different temperatures, keeping the enzyme concentration constant. They consider variables, controls, risks, and accuracy in their experimental design.
Explain why it is important to keep enzyme concentration constant during the experiment.
Show answer, mark scheme and Mentor explanation
MP1: Changing enzyme concentration would affect the reaction rate independently of temperature
MP2: This would make it difficult to determine the effect of temperature alone
Can you spot the two separate mark-scheme points in this enzyme experiment question?
To earn both marks, your answer needs two linked ideas. First, changing the enzyme concentration would change the reaction rate as well. Second, that would mean you could not tell the effect of temperature by itself. The key is to show that enzyme concentration must stay constant so temperature is the only factor affecting the result.