The Importance Of Enzymes

Enzymes are globular proteins folded into a complex 3-dimensional shape that contain a special surface region called the active site where specific substrate can bind structurally and chemically. They act as catalysts, meaning that they are substances which lower the activation energy required for a chemical reaction to occur and therefore increases the rate of the reaction. Activation Energy is the minimum energy barrier needed to be overcome before a reaction can occur by providing an alternative reaction pathway. The beneficial aspect of enzymes is that they are extremely efficient and may be used repeatedly. One enzyme may be used to catalyze thousands of reactions every second. The two factors that affect the efficiency of how enzymes

There is a minimum amount of energy that particles need in order to react with each other. If the colliding particles have less than this minimum energy (also known as the activation energy) then they just bounce off each other and no reaction occurs. The faster the particles are moving, the more energy they have. Fast moving particles are more likely to react when they collide. Particles move faster when the temperature in which they are surrounded by is increased. This explains why increasing the temperature of the catalase reaction would increase the rate of reaction. Another requirement for successful collision other than overcoming the activation energy barrier is having the correct geometrical orientation. My prediction can also be supported by the fact that faster movements of hydrogen peroxide molecules and catalase molecules will increase collision frequency, which will ultimately increase the number of successful collisions. As a final result, more reaction will be catalyzed and more oxygen gas will be produced; therefore, enzyme activity and reaction rate will increase. As stated before, the optimum temperature for enzyme activity is about 35-50 degrees Celsius. The line on the Graph 1 has a steep slope after it peaks because the enzyme denatures when the temperature increasing to

The Maxwell Distribution Curve below supports the prediction about the increase of temperature, increasing the rate of reaction. Curves T1 and T2 show the distribution of kinetic energies for gaseous at those two temperatures. Curve T2 represents a higher temperature and thus is positively skewed. The peak of the graph with the most molecules is shifted towards a higher kinetic energy and the curve broadens out. For both T1 and T2, the total area under the curve is the same and the fraction of molecules with energy greater than the activation energy (Ea) is significantly larger in T2 than in T1. According to the Maxwell-Distribution Curve, when the temperature increases, more of the hydrogen peroxide particles, in this case, have sufficient energy to react thus more products are formed at a given unit of