Digestive enzymes Flashcards
What is a biological catalyst?
Speed up chemical reactions that take place in all cells without being used up in the process.
What do cells create enzymes based on?
Instructions carried in the cell’s genes.
What type of molecules are enzymes?
Protein molecules.
What are enzymes made of?
Amino acids, between 100 and 1000.
What do the amino acids look like?
Long chains folded to make a unique 3D structure.
Why do enzymes have different shapes and structures?
The sequence and type of amino acids in their structure is different.
What is the active site?
Where the enzyme and reactant bind.
What is the most important part of the enzyme?
The active site.
Does the enzyme break up the reactant?
Yes.
How do enzymes speed up reactions?
By lowering the activation energy.
What is the activation energy?
The energy needed to start a reaction.
Is lowering the activation energy an endothermic or exothermic reaction?
Exothermic reaction.
Name 6 factors that affect the rate of enzyme-catalysed reactions.
Temperature, PH, enzyme concentration, substrate (reactant) concentration, surface area, pressure.
What is the best temperature or PH called?
The optimum.
What happens when enzymes get too far away from its optimum?
They change irreversibly, changes the shape of the active site which means the enzyme will no longer work and become denatured.
