Enzyme Action Flashcards
What are enzymes?
Globular proteins that act as catalysts.
What do catalysts do?
Alter the rate of a chemical reaction without undergoing change themselves.
Why are catalysts effective in small amounts?
As they can be reused repeatedly.
What do enzymes do?
Speed up reactions.
What don’t enzymes do?
Make reactions happen.
What must happen for a enzyme reaction to take place?
The substrates must collide with sufficient energy to alter the arrangement of their atoms and form products.
What must be less in the products then the substrates?
The free energy.
What is the activation energy?
The minimum amount of energy needed to activate a reaction.
What do enzymes do to the activation energy?
Lower the amount of energy needed to overcome it.
What do enzymes allow reactions to do?
Take place at a lower temperature than normal.
How do enzymes allow metabolic processes to occur rapidly in the human body?
As they lower the temperature needed for reactions to take place.
What would happen if enzymes didn’t lower the temperature for reactions to occur?
Reactions would proceed too slowly to sustain life.
What region of the enzyme is functional?
The active site.
