Enzymes Flashcards
What term is used to describe an enzyme that acts outside cells?
Extracellular
Explain, in terms of activation energy, why an enzyme enables reactions to happen at a lower temperature than they could without an enzyme.
Activation energy is needed to start a chemical reaction. The activation energy is often provided as heat. With the presence of an enzyme, the activation energy required to start a reaction is lowered. Therefore not as much heat is needed, so the reaction can take place at lower temperatures it could do without an enzyme.
What are the main differences between the lock and key model and the induced fit model?
In the lock and key model the active site has a fixed shape that is complementary to the substrate, but the induced fit model the active site has to change shape slightly to allow the substrate to bind tightly.
What determines the shape of an enzymes active site?
The enzymes tertiary structure
Why will an enzyme only bind with one substrate?
An enzyme can only bind with a substrate that has a complementary shape to its active site.
