Enzymes and Scientific skills Flashcards
What is a catalyst?
Catalysts are substances which speed up chemical reactions by lowering the activation energy. Without a catalyst it would take a long time for the particles build up enough energy required for successful collisions.
What is activation energy?
The minimum amount of energy that is required to activate the reactants to undergo chemical change (energy required to start a chemical reaction.
What is an enzyme?
A protein biological catalyst that speeds up the rate of reaction by lowering activation energy.
What are some signs of chemical reactions occurring?
-Effervescence
-Colour change
-Temperature change (exothermic or endothermic reactions)
-Light
What are the two types of catalysts?
-Chemical
-Biological
What would happen without enzymes?
-Without them, essential reactions like aerobic cellular respiration would occur so slowly that life could not exist.
Describe the active site of an enzyme?
-The active site is complementary and specific to the substrate in terms of shape and charge.
What needs to happen for an enzyme to work?
-For an enzyme to function it relies on successful collisions to happen between the enzyme and the substrate
-Reactions only occur if the particles or molecules collide with the correct orientation and the correct energy
What are the factors affecting enzymes?
-1. Concentration (of either enzyme or substrate)
-2. Surface area to volume ratio
-3. Temperature
-4. pH
How does concentration affect enzyme activity?
-Increasing the concentration of enzyme or substrate increases the rate of successful collisions as there is more enzyme or substrate to react with.
-This means that more enyzme-substrate complexes will form and the reaction will occur faster
How does SA : V affect enzyme activity?
The smaller the object, the higher the SA : V ratio
-Higher surface area has the same effect as increased concentration
-More space is available to react which means more enzyme-substrate complexes are formed
How does Temperature affect enzyme activity?
A higher temperature means a greater amount of kinetic energy,
so more there will be a higher chance of successful collisions and more enzyme-substrate complexes will be formed
How does pH affect enzyme activity?
Enzymes will function best within certain pH levels.
What are the two things that must happen for enzyme function? (Collision theory)
-Molecules will move randomly in solution
-Enzyme and substrate will collide
-If these molecules collide with the correct ORIENTATION and ENERGY, they will be able to bind, and the enzyme can act on the substrate
What happens to enzymes at very high temperatures?
-The enzyme becomes denatured.
-The bonds that hold together the shape of the active site have been broken
-This means that the active site has changed shape, and it is no longer specific to the substrate