enzymes

Question 1

what is a catalyst?

Answer 1

• a chemical that speeds up a chemical reaction but is not used up in the reaction and it remains unchanged
• catalysts lower the amount of activation energy required to initiate a reaction

ex. enzymes

Question 2

what is activation energy?

Answer 2

the minimum energy that must be input ignorer to initiate a reaction

Question 3

what is an enzyme?

Answer 3

• protein molecules produced by the body
• serves as a catalyst to speed up chemical reactions in lower temperature environments
• can catalyze from 100-30 million reactions in a minute

Question 4

how do enzymes work?

Answer 4

• they have a precise 3D shape and are large in size, this shape fits a specific substrate
• they are specific: they catalyze only one type of reaction and only one type of substrate molecule

Question 5

what are the two functions of enzymes?

Answer 5

1. break substrates down

2. build substrates up

Question 6

what is an active site?

Answer 6

the part of the enzyme that binds with the substrate

Question 7

what is an enzyme-substrate complex?

Answer 7

what it is called when the enzyme attaches to the substrate

Question 8

what is the lock and key enzyme model?

Answer 8

• temporarily joining of the enzyme with the substrate molecule forms the enzyme-substrate complex
• the enzyme acts as the lock and the substrate acts as the key

Question 9

what is denaturation?

Answer 9

when a protein structure is altered temporarily

Question 10

what is coagulation?

Answer 10

when a protein structure is altered permanently

Question 11

what is a substrate?

Answer 11

the substance an enzyme works on

Question 12

what are enzyme helpers?

Answer 12

1. coenzymes (vitamins)
2. cofactors (minerals)
   - they help with the molding of the enzyme to the substrate molecule

Question 13

what factors affect how well an enzyme works?

Answer 13

1. pH
2. substrate molecule concentration
3. temperature
4. competitive inhibition

Question 14

how does pH affect the functionality of an enzyme?

Answer 14

each enzyme is designed to work at a specific pH, so if the pH is too high, it will denature

Question 15

how does substrate molecule concentration affect the functionality of an enzyme?

Answer 15

• there are only so many enzymes to go around
• as you add substrate molecules, reactions will get faster until the enzymes are all in use, at that point the reaction stabilizes

Question 16

how does temperature affect the functionality of an enzyme?

Answer 16

• might denature an enzyme

- most enzymes function best within a relatively narrow range of temperatures

Question 17

how do competitive inhibitors affect the functionality of an enzyme?

Answer 17

• competitive inhibition are molecules with a similar shape to an enzyme’s substrate, they hijack the active site, blocking the substrate from docking
• these prevent the enzyme from functioning properly

Question 18

what are the enzyme regulators?

Answer 18

1. competitive inhibitors

2. feedback inhibition

Question 19

what is feedback inhibition?

Answer 19

• as the product of the enzymatic reaction accumulates, the end product attaches to the regulatory site of the enzyme
• this changes the shape of the active site thereby inhibiting, or turning off, substrate binding