Biology C1.1 C1.2 C1.3 SL

Metabolism

All the chemical reactions that take place within cells and organisms, covert food to energy

Distinguish between anabolism and catabolism and give examples

*Anabolism: requires an input of energy (endergonic), builds large molecules from small ones, used to store energy in chemical form, involves condensation reactions, used for growth, repair and energy storage

*Catabolism: releases energy (exergonic), breaks down large molecules into smaller ones, used to release chemical energy as heat and for other activities such as movement and active transport, involves hydrolysis reactions, performs digestion, excretion and energy supply

*Both are made up of enzyme-catalysed reactions and are couple to ATP, the principle energy carrier in cells

Describe the structure and role of enzymes

Catalyst - substance that increases the rate of a reaction and is not used up or used itself

Enzymes are biological catalysts that speed up metabolic reactions found in all living organisms

Enzymes are specific, if a cell produced an enzyme it can catalyse a specific reaction to take place

Enzymes are complex globular proteins with a specific area composed of a few amino acids where the catalytic reaction takes place (active site)

Describe the mechanism of enzyme catalysis

Describe the role of molecular motion and substrate-active site collisions in enzyme catalysis

Explain the relationship between the structure of the active site, enzyme-substrate specificity and denaturation

Explain the effect of enzymes on the activation energy

Explain the effect of temperature, pH, substrate concentration on enzyme activity

Determine reaction rate through experimentation and secondary data