enzymes

what are enzymes?

biological catalyst, speeds up the rate of a chemical reaction without itself being chemically changed at the end of the reaction

how do enzymes work?

lower activation energy of a reaction thereby increasing the speed of the chemical reaction

what is a substrate

substance which enzymes act upon

active site of an enzyme

a depression on the surface of the enzyme that binds to the substrate

what forms a enzyme-substrate complex?

only substrates with a 3D shape complementary to that of the active site of the enzyme can fit into the enzyme to form an enzyme-substrate complex

temperature on enzyme activity

increasing temperature leads to more kinetic energy supplied to enzyme and substrate molecules which increases the frequency of successful collisions between enzyme and substrate molecules, increasing the rate of formation of enzyme-substrate complex which increases the rate of formation of product

enzyme activity beyond optimum temperature/ pH

bonds maintaining the 3D shape of the enzyme molecule is overcome which causes the active site to lose its specific 3D shape. the substrate molecules cannot bind to the enzyme and the enzyme denatures