Final answer:
The total number of bicarbonate ions produced by carbonic anhydrase per minute is 36 million, calculated by multiplying the turnover number per second (600,000) by the number of seconds in a minute (60).
Step-by-step explanation:
The enzyme carbonic anhydrase has a remarkable turnover number, which refers to the number of substrate molecules converted by a single enzyme molecule per unit of time. According to the given information, the turnover number for carbonic anhydrase is 600,000 per second. To find out the total number of resulting bicarbonate ions produced per minute, we can use the following calculation:
Total number of bicarbonate ions per minute = turnover number per second × seconds in a minute.
Therefore:
- Turnover number per second = 600,000
- Seconds in a minute = 60
By multiplying these values:
Total number of bicarbonate ions per minute = 600,000 × 60 = 36,000,000
This means that carbonic anhydrase converts 36 million molecules of substrate to bicarbonate ions per minute.