(a) (i) What is meant by an enzyme?
Enzymes are biological molecules that act as catalysts in biochemical reactions - Leaving Cert Biology - Question 7 - 2007
Question 7
(a) (i) What is meant by an enzyme?
Enzymes are biological molecules that act as catalysts in biochemical reactions. They facilitate and speed up these reactions w... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:(a) (i) What is meant by an enzyme?
Enzymes are biological molecules that act as catalysts in biochemical reactions - Leaving Cert Biology - Question 7 - 2007
Step 1
What is meant by an enzyme?
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Answer
Enzymes are specialized proteins that act as biological catalysts. They accelerate biochemical reactions by lowering the activation energy required for the reaction to proceed, thus playing a critical role in metabolic processes.
Step 2
Give an example of a protein that has a structural role.
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An example of a protein with a structural role is myosin, which is a major component of muscle tissue and is essential for muscle contraction and movement.
Step 3
Name the enzyme that you used.
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Answer
The enzyme I used in the investigation is catalase.
Step 4
Name the substrate of the enzyme.
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The substrate of catalase is hydrogen peroxide (H2O2).
Step 5
State one factor that you kept constant during the investigation.
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One factor that was kept constant during the investigation was the pH level of the solution.
Step 6
How did you keep this factor constant?
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To keep the pH level constant, I used a buffer solution that maintained a stable pH throughout the experiment.
Step 7
How did you vary the temperature?
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I varied the temperature by placing the reaction mixture in water baths set at different temperatures, such as 20°C, 30°C, 40°C, and 50°C.
Step 8
How did you measure the rate of activity of the enzyme?
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The rate of enzyme activity was measured by observing the change in the amount of oxygen produced over a fixed period using a gas syringe.
Step 9
What was the result of your investigation?
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The investigation showed that the enzyme activity increased with temperature up to an optimal point, after which the activity decreased, indicating denaturation.
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