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    © Boardworks LTD 2012 1 of 11

    Uploaded by

    Lizzy Anthony
    Enzymes are biological catalysts that speed up chemical reactions without being used up. They have specific shapes that allow only certain reactants to bind at the active site, lowering the activation energy needed for the reaction. An enzyme's shape depends on its amino acid sequence and is critical for its catalytic function.

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    © Boardworks LTD 2012 1 of 11

    Uploaded by

    Lizzy Anthony
    37 views11 pages
    Enzymes are biological catalysts that speed up chemical reactions without being used up. They have specific shapes that allow only certain reactants to bind at the active site, lowering the activation energy needed for the reaction. An enzyme's shape depends on its amino acid sequence and is critical for its catalytic function.

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    Enzymes

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    Enzymes are biological catalysts that speed up chemical reactions without being used up. They have specific shapes that allow only certain reactants to bind at the active site, lowering the activation energy needed for the reaction. An enzyme's shape depends on its amino acid sequence and is critical for its catalytic function.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    37 views11 pages

    © Boardworks LTD 2012 1 of 11

    Uploaded by

    Lizzy Anthony
    Enzymes are biological catalysts that speed up chemical reactions without being used up. They have specific shapes that allow only certain reactants to bind at the active site, lowering the activation energy needed for the reaction. An enzyme's shape depends on its amino acid sequence and is critical for its catalytic function.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    You are on page 1of 11

    1 of 11 © Boardworks Ltd 2012

    What are enzymes?


    Enzymes are biological catalysts – they speed up the
    chemical reactions that take place inside all cells, but
    without being used up in the process.

    There are many thousands of different types of enzyme,


    and each one catalyzes a different reaction.

    Enzymes occur naturally in all organisms, but they are


    increasingly being used in industrial processes.

    2 of 11 © Boardworks Ltd 2012


    Why do enzymes speed up reactions?
    Enzymes speed up reactions by lowering the activation
    energy (Ea) of a reaction. The activation energy is the
    energy needed to start a reaction.
    Different reactions have different activation energies.

    Ea without enzyme
    energy (kJ)

    Ea with enzyme

    reaction (time)
    3 of 11 © Boardworks Ltd 2012
    Why is shape important?
    The shape of an enzyme is very important because it has
    a direct effect on how it catalyzes a reaction.

    Why do enzymes have different


    shapes?
    An enzyme’s shape is
    determined by the sequence of
    amino acids in its structure, and
    the bonds which form between
    the atoms of those molecules.

    Different types of enzymes have different shapes and


    functions because the order and type of amino acids in
    their structure is different.

    4 of 11 © Boardworks Ltd 2012


    Why are enzymes so specific?
    Enzymes are very specific about which reactions they
    catalyze. Only molecules with exactly the right shape will
    bind to the enzyme and react. These are the reactant, or
    substrate, molecules.

    The part of the enzyme to


    which the reactant binds is
    called the active site.

    This is a very specific shape


    and the most important part
    of the enzyme.

    5 of 11 © Boardworks Ltd 2012


    What happens at the active site?
    In the same way that a key fits into a lock, so a substrate
    is thought to fit into an enzyme’s active site. The enzyme
    is the lock, and the reactant is the key.

    + ↔ ↔ +

    enzyme enzyme
    + ↔ enzyme-reactant
    complex
    ↔ +
    reactant products

    6 of 11 © Boardworks Ltd 2012


    The lock and key model

    7 of 11 © Boardworks Ltd 2012


    Factors affecting enzymes
    The rate of enzyme-catalyzed reactions depends on
    several factors. What are some of these?

    Factors that affect the rate of a reaction include:


     temperature  substrate concentration
     pH  surface area
     enzyme concentration  pressure.

    All enzymes work best at only one particular temperature


    and pH: this is called the optimum.

    Different enzymes have different optimum temperatures


    and pH values.

    8 of 11 © Boardworks Ltd 2012


    Factors affecting enzymes
    If the temperature and pH changes sufficiently beyond an
    enzyme’s optimum, the shape of the enzyme irreversibly
    changes.
    This affects the shape of the active site and means that
    the enzyme will no longer work.
    When this happens the enzyme is denatured.

    heat

    pH

    normal denatured
    9 of 11 © Boardworks Ltd 2012
    Enzymes and temperature

    10 of 11 © Boardworks Ltd 2012


    Enzymes: true or false?

    11 of 11 © Boardworks Ltd 2012

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