2.4 Chemical Reactions and Enzymes Flashcards
What is a Chemical Reaction?
a process that changes of transforms one set of chemicals into another
During chemical reactions:
energy and mass are conserved
What are Reactants:
elements or compounds that enter into a chemical reaction
What are Products:
elements or compounds produced by chemical reactions
How do chemical bonds change in a chemical reaction?
bonds between atoms in the reactants are broken, and atoms rearranged to form new bonds to make new products
Example of chemical reaction in blood stream:
Co2 reactes with water to produce carbonic acid (H2CO3) which is highly soluble sothe blood can carry CO2 to the lungs to then be reversed to exhale
Chemical reactions that occur spontaneusly:
release energy
Chemical reactions that occur with a source of energy:
absorb energy
What is activation energy
the energy that is needed to get a reaction started
What are Enzymes?
proteins that act as biological catalysts
What is a catalyst?
a substance that speeds up the rate of a chemical reaction and lowers the temp needed for the chemical reaction to occur
Enzymes speed up chemical reactions that take place in cells by:
lowering the activiation energies
Ex: carbonic anhydrase makes the reaction to produce carbonic acid happen immediatley, so Co2 does not build up in the body
What are substrates?
reactants of enzymes-catalyzed reactions
Substates bind to:
the active site on an enzyme (they are complementary, like a lock and key)
What effects the activity of enzymes?
Temp, pH, regulatory molecules
What is oxidation?
the combining of oxygen with another material
can be as slow as rusting or as fast as buring
Enzymes let chemical reactions take place:
at a much lower temperature (38 degrees celcuis or 98.6 degrees farenheit)
Enzymes are:
sustrate specific; bind with only specific substrate
How does temp effect enzymes?
too low: slow reaction, too high: change shape of enzyme
pH also critical: wrong pH can change shape of enzyme
What pH levels do enzymes work in?
some work well in high pH, some neutral, some basic
Oxidation happens in:
living things (give off heat)
Exothermic reactions:
release energy
Endothermic reactions:
absorb energy
Example of enzyme:
amalaze: substrate-starch, product-maltose, happens in mouth and small intestine
