Enzyme Kinetics - Apparatus
To set up the apparatus, a piece of glass tubing is inserted into a one hole rubber stopper that fits into the test tube we want to use. It is important to lubricate the tubing with water or glycerin and to grab the tubing close to the end being inserted into the stopper to reduce the risk of injury. A piece of rubber tubing is then placed over the end of the glass tubing (below left). If desired a piece of wire can be used on the other end of the tube to form a "U", making handling it easier (below right). This completes the set up of the delivery tube.
After filling a 10 ml graduated cylinder with water, a finger is placed over the top and the cylinder is inverted into a big beaker of water. The finger is removed. Atmospheric pressure will keep the water in the cylinder from coming out even after the finger is removed.
The cylinder is clamped in place and the test tube clamped in a water bath to maintain the temperature. The set up is finished by inserting the stopper into the test tube and the free end of the rubber tube into the graduated cylinder.
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