Question

Mr. Johnson is giving a lesson on enzymes in his freshman biology class. Mr. Johnson displays six beakers with either a chemical substrate or chemical enzyme in them. He tells the class that each of the substrates will spontaneously degrade over a set period of time. He asks the class to identify what would happen if he were able to apply the correct enzyme to the correct substrate. Which of the following is the best answer to give Mr. Johnson?

A
The reaction would stop immediately.

B
The reaction would be maintained.

C
The reaction rate would increase.

D
The reaction rate would decrease.

Answer 1

Option C = the reaction rate would increase.

Step-by-step explanation:

Enzymes are the biological catalyst. They increase the rate of reaction by lowering the activation energy.

Activation energy:

It is the minimum amount of energy required by chemical specie to start the chemical reaction.

The activation energy is inversely related to the rate of reaction. The higher the activation energy the slower will be the reaction rate.

Molecules are colloid with each other and gain kinetic energy if this energy is higher than the transition state energy then molecules easily undergo the chemical reaction. Because molecules easily overcome the barrier i.e transition state.

When the kinetic energy is lower than molecules can not pass the barrier. They require the input which is called activation energy to pass the barrier.

The higher the activation energy, the difficult for the reaction to proceed. Catalyst are used to lower the activation energies because in this way lower will be the transition state, and higher will be the reaction rate.