The Rate of Enzyme Reactions

Understanding How Concentration, Temperature, and PH Affect the Rate of Enzyme Reactions

Tulsa Community College

Abstract
When the enzyme concentration increases, the rate of reaction will increase because there are lots of enzymes present to aid break down the substrate. However, a point will be reached when no matter how much enzyme is present, the reaction will not occur any quicker. This is equilibrium. This happens because all the substrate is being broken down by the exact same amount of enzyme, so enzymes will be present which have no substrate to break down. One hypothesis were generated to investigate the Rate of Enzyme Reactions. The purpose of the experiment was to understand How Concentration, Temperature, and PH Affect the Rate of Enzyme Reactions.

Understanding How Concentration, Temperature, and PH Affect the Rate of Enzyme Reactions
Introduction
Any of numerous proteins or conjugated proteins produced by living organisms and functioning as biochemical catalysts. Enzymes are biological catalysts, or chemicals that speed up the rate of reaction between substances without themselves being consumed in the reaction. As such, they are vital to such bodily functions as digestion, and they make possible processes that normally could not occur except at temperatures so high they would threaten the well-being of the body. A type of protein, enzymes sometimes work in tandem with non-proteins called coenzymes. Among the processes in which enzymes play a vital role is fermentation, which takes place in the production of alcohol or the baking of bread and also plays a part in numerous other natural phenomena, such as the purification of wastewater. Once the substrate or substrates are bound to the enzyme, the enzyme can promote the desired reaction in some particular way. What that way is depends on the nature of the reaction and the nature of the enzyme. An enzyme may hold two substrate molecules in precisely the orientation needed for the...