Topic 1 - Enzymes

Question 1

what are enzymes?

Answer 1

biological catalysts

Question 2

what types of reactions do enzymes speed up?

Answer 2

useful ones (metabolic)

Question 3

what is a catalyst?

Answer 3

a substance which increases the speed of a reaction, without being changed or used up in the reaction

Question 4

what is a substrate?

Answer 4

a molecule that is changed in a reaction

Question 5

what is needed for an enzyme to work?

Answer 5

the substrate needs to be the correct shape to fit into the active site

Question 6

what is the active site of an enzyme?

Answer 6

the part where a substrate joins onto the enzyme

Question 7

what does increasing the temperature do for the rate of a reaction with enzymes?

Answer 7

at first, as the temp gets higher so does the rate. however, if it gets too hot the active site of the enzyme changes so the substrate doesn’t fit. this means the enzyme is denatured. enzymes have an optimum temp

Question 8

what does changing the pH do for an enzyme reaction?

Answer 8

if the pH is too high/low the enzyme will denature. enzymes have an optimum pH