Key Stage 4
Meaning
Enzymes are large proteins that can act as a catalyst for chemical reactions or be used to break down large molecules into smaller ones.
About Enzymes
- Organisms have a number of different enzymes that control the chemical reactions that take place inside the cytoplasm.
- Digestive enzymes are used to break down large insoluble food molecules into small soluble molecules.
- Enzymes can be denatured if the temperatures are too high or the pH is too extreme. Different enzymes have a different optimum temperature and optimum pH.
pH and Enzymes
- Enzymes have an optimum pH at which they work best. If the pH is far from this optimum value the enzyme will denature.
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| This graph shows the optimum pH for amylase. |
Temperature and Enzymes
- Enzymes have an optimum temperature at which they work best. If the temperature is far above this optimum value the enzyme will denature. If the temperature is far lower the rate of reaction slows down due to the number of particle collisions being lower at lower temperatures.
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| This graph shows the optimum temperature for many enzymes in the human body. |
- If the temperature goes above 11 or below 2.5 all of the amylase enzymes will be denatured.