Reaction rate of enzyme?

View your credit file based on any of the UK credit reference agencies, or all three at once
LifeLock is the only Identity Theft Prevention Solution backed by a one-million dollar guarantee!Click here to get a 10% discount.

LifeLock Identity Theft Prevention - Save 10%

Provided that temperature and pH are kept constant, how does the concentration of a substrate affect the reaction rate when the number of enzyme molecules is limited?

Reaction rate of enzyme?

if temperature and pH are kept constant and you have a solution with an limited concentration of enzyme. Let's say that there is no substrate in the solution to begin with. Now, as you start to add the substrate, or as the relative concentration of the substrate increases, the rate of the reaction will also increase. As you continue to increase the concentration of substrate the rate of the reaction will increase to a lesser and lesser degree until a maximum rate (Vmax) has been achieved. At this point, the reaction rate cannot increase anymore, and if it is graphed as reaction rate versus substrate concentration you will see that a plateau has formed, and the corresponding y value where this takes place is the Vmax.

The reaction rate cannot get any faster than this point because this point represents the saturation point of the enzyme; all the enzyme in solution has a substrate in it's active site.

So, in conclusion, with a limited concentration of enzyme, the reaction rate will increase for a given length of time as the concentration of subsrate is increased. Very quickly, however, the reaction rate will slow down, and become constant, no matter how much the substrate concentration is increased because the enzyme is at Vmax and is saturated.

FirstPrevious12 Next End

Reaction rate of enzyme?

Topic