What does an enzyme do?
Answer:
An enzyme is a protein that speeds or slows a reaction in the body. Enzymes help us digest foods. The process could be much faster at a higher temperature, but the enzymes allow it to occur at our body temp. Enzymes being proteins are denatured by heat. An enzyme lowers the activation energy for a reaction. Sometimes we say that it carries one particle from one place to another. As in mono dehydro ascorbic acid transhydrogenase , it takes off 1 hydro group and carries it to another place. Enzyme names end in ase
an enzyme is a catalyst so it speeds up a chemical reaction
an enzyme is a catalyst that speeds up the rate of a reaction...it does not affect the concentration or equilibrium.when the reaction is completed...you should still have the enzyme intact...it is not used up in the reaction.
An enzyme is a protein which is able to form a complex with reactants which lowers the energy needed to complete a chemical reaction, thus catalyzing the reaction to produce products.
Boring answer: Enzymes lower the Energy of Activation of a chemical reaction.
What does that mean?:
A chemical reaction usually takes two + molecules and joins them together by creating a new bond between them. Usually when we form that new molecule, it has a lower energy state (Think wound-up child versus sleeping child)
Sometimes the formation of that new bond takes a lot of energy, which means you have to invest energy to get that molecule to the lower energy state.
I always like to think of making a cake - you take the eggs, milk, and cake mix, and you have to really mix them up (invest energy) to get to the happy state of the cake batter (much yummier than just milk and eggs).
You could sort of think of the enzyme as having an electrical mixer versus just a wisk. The end product is the same - cake batter. The ingredients are the same, too. Even the instrument of a wisk and a mixer are essentially the same, only the mixer will lower the amount of energy you have to invest to get to the end product. It will also shorten the amount of time you have to spend mixing!
Now, an enzyme doesn't plug in, obviously - it is a protein that takes the molecules that are going to be joined (or broken apart) and fits them together so that the bond that they are about to form is easier to make.
Bring molecules closer together = less time and energy needed to form that bond = bond formed = lower energy state!
Don't forget that enzymes can also break bonds, in a similar way.
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