Enzymes are made of protein, they are said to be specific to their substrate and also work through a lock and key mechanism. Here's a little YouTube clip to help you understand everything about enzymes: Factors Affecting Enzyme Action many different things can affect the rate of the reaction of an enzyme, these include: Temperature, pH, enzyme concentration and substrate concentration. A high temperature causes the denaturation of the enzyme, causing the reaction to slow down and eventually stop. Enzymes work in an optimum pH (usually 7 - neutral), however there are exceptions. If an enzyme is in it's optimum temperature then it will be able to work at a muchfaster rate than if it was in an unsuitable pH. If enzyme concentration is high then the reaction rate will be high (as long as there is an adequate supply of substrate), whereas if the substrate concentration is high then the reaction rate will be high. Inhibitors
Here is a simple graph to show the effects of inhibitors: ![]() |
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