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If the difference in energy between the substrate and the product is very large, the __________ reaction will occur almost exclusively.

User MarGin
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Final answer:

The large negative free energy change typically means the reaction proceeds spontaneously, with a large K value indicating products are predominantly formed. Enzymatic reactions involving 'perfect' enzymes exhibit high substrate turnover due to very favorable reaction kinetics.

Step-by-step explanation:

If the difference in energy between the substrate and the product is very large, the spontaneous reaction will occur almost exclusively. This is understood by considering the concept of free energy of activation, which is the energy necessary for substrate molecules to reach the transition state where a reaction is highly likely to occur. The large energy difference suggests the products are lower in energy than the reactors, which aligns with the situation where the reaction is spontaneous, indicated by a negative free energy change and possibly a positive cell potential. A large K value for the reaction means that the reaction heavily favors the formation of products, essentially going to completion.

In enzymatic reactions, a perfect enzyme would bind substrates and quickly convert them to products, with a very large kcat and a very small k1, indicating that the enzyme-substrate complex rarely dissociates back to the enzyme and substrate. This would mean that at high substrate concentration, enzyme sites are fully occupied, leading to an efficient conversion of S to P, where S is the substrate and P is the product.

User Magsol
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