B1.2.4 - Enzyme Reactions Flashcards
What are the conditions in which enzymes work the best?
Optimum conditions
What are the factors that affect the efficiency of enzyme-catalysed reactions?
Temperature
pH
The concentrations of the enzyme and the substrate
What happens to enzymes at higher temperatures?
The enzyme and substrate molecules move faster and collide more often
What happens to the enzyme-catalysed reaction when the temperature is higher?
Generally, it speeds up
What happens if the temperature during enzyme-catalysed reactions becomes too high?
The amino acid chains in the protein begin to unravel, changing the shape of the active site.
How does an enzyme become denatured?
When the shape of the active site begins to change because of the unravelling of amino acid chains
What happens when the enzyme is denatured?
The substrate can no longer bind and so the overall rate of reaction decreases
What happens if all the enzyme molecules become denatured?
The reactions stops
Can denatured enzymes become regular enzymes again?
No, the change is irreversible
What is the optimum pH for enzymes?
Every enzyme has a different optimum pH
How does a change in pH affect an enzyme molecule?
It may make the enzyme unfold, changing the shape of the active site and making the enzyme denatured.
What happens to an enzyme reaction if the substrate concentration is high?
Generally, the reaction is faster
What happens if the substrate concentration becomes too high?
It reaches its maximum reaction rate and cannot increase in speed any further
What happens to an enzyme reaction if the enzyme concentration is high?
Generally, it is faster
What happens at a certain enzyme concentration?
All of the enzyme molecules are bound to the substrate molecules so rate or reaction cannot increase
