Enzymes Flashcards
what are enzymes
catalysts produced by living things that only catalyse with one specific reaction
how can you control a reaction to get the right amounts of substances
raising the temperature but there’s a limit so living things produce enzymes as a biological catalyst
what is a catalyst
a substance which increases the speed of a reaction without being changed or used up in the reaction
what are enzymes made up of
chains of amino acids
what do enzymes have so that they can catalyse reactions
special shapes
what do chemical reactions usually involve
things being split apart or joined together
what does changing the temperature of an enzyme-catalysed reaction do
change the rate
what happens if an enzyme-catalysed reaction gets too hot
the bonds break so the substrate won’t fit
what two things do all enzymes have
an optimum temperature and the right pH
what is the optimum pH of an enzyme-catalysed reaction
neutral pH 7
some pH 2
