Absorbencies were graphed for maximum reaction rates and optimums. .
The optimal temperature was 45°C with a reaction rate of 0.082 min-1 and optimal pH was 5.0 with a reaction rate of 0.153 min-1. This experiment could be improved upon by testing more intervals around the optimal pH that was found. .
Introduction.
A catalyst is the chemical agent that changes the rate of a reaction without being consumed by the reaction. In order to do this, the catalyst breaks the bonds and revises the electron clouds to complete the reaction. The catalysts used in biochemical reactions are globular proteins called enzymes. Since enzymes cannot cause inefficient reactions to occur, I can be sure that the reaction will either speed up or have no reaction with the enzyme. The reacting molecule in a reaction with an enzyme is the substrate. .
Although an enzyme can neither be consumed nor permanently changed during the process, they do not last forever. The majority of the substrate is converted at the start of the reaction. As the time increases, less of the substrate is transformed into the product. A cell's physical and chemical environment affects enzyme activity. The activity of an enzyme is affected by general environmental factors, such as temperature and pH. Because the three-dimensional structures of proteins are sensitive, an enzyme has conditions under which it works optimally.
Up to a point, the velocity of an enzymatic reaction increases with increasing temperature, partly because substrates collide with active sites more frequently when the molecules move rapidly. Beyond that temperature, however, the speed of the enzymatic reaction drops sharply. Temperatures that are too high might alter the structure of the protein. Once altered, the enzyme can no longer affect the conversion of substrate into product, and the initial velocity of the reaction is reduced. The pH of the system can .
