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Enzymes
workbook

What are enzymes?

Enzymes are …………………………………that function as a biological

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They are proteins in nature.

What is a catalyst?

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5 Properties of enzymes

• Enzymes are made of protein

• Each enzyme catalyses one reaction at a time.
• They can be used again & again
• They are influenced by temperature
• They are influenced by pH

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NAMING OF ENZYMES.

Enzymes can be named by the following ways.

1. The substrate the catalyse.

In this, you add suffix …..ase to the end of the substrate.
Eg.

Protein Protease
Lipids
Maltose
Sucrose
Carbohydrates
Amylose (Starch)

2. The process they catalyse.

In this, you add suffix …..ase to the end of the substrate.
e.g
Oxidation Oxidase
Reduction
Hydrolysis

3. Named after the person who discovered them.

e.g
Pepsin
Renin
Trypsin

Mr Maurice IGCSE Biology

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Example.

Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a substance that decomposes into Water (H2O) and
Oxygen (O2) if it is left in room temperature for a period of time.

This reaction could a long time, but it could be sped up if we add a catalyst.

Each catalyst can catalyse a specific substance and nothing but it. The catalyst for
Hydrogen peroxide is called Manganese (IV) oxide.

If it is added we will get water and oxygen gas in a very short time, and the
manganese (IV) oxide could be obtained again as it was, it remains unchanged.

Observe the class demonstration and write down the observation.

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Mr Maurice IGCSE Biology

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Describe why enzymes are important in all living organisms

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How Do Enzymes Work?

Enzymes work the same way as catalysts do, they can work with only one substrate
and they can be used more than once.

Enzymes have a structure that is called active site.

Only one substance can fit into the active site to be digested, and it is the only
substrate that this particular enzyme works with.

Mr Maurice IGCSE Biology

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Task

Draw a well labelled diagram of an Enzyme. Include the substrate and products.

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The figure above shows the function of enzymes:

• The substrate enters the active site of the enzyme.

• The reaction takes place.
• The substrate exits the enzyme as two simpler products.

You can also think of the way enzymes work as a key and a lock, the key is the
substrate and the lock is the enzyme.

The key should be exactly the right shape to fit in the lock, so does the
substrate to fit in the active site of the enzyme. The key could only open only one
lock, and the lock could be unlocked by only that key.

Enzymes - 'Lock and key' model

Enzymes are very specific, each kind of enzyme catalyse one kind of reaction only.

To catalyse a reaction, enzyme molecule and substrate molecule need to meet and

joint together by a temporary bond.

Each molecule has a special shape and

an active site into which its

substrate molecule fits exactly.

This enzyme is amylase, and its active

site is just the right size and shape

for a substrate molecule (starch in

this case).

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The starch slots into the active site.

The starch is split into maltose

molecules

The enzyme is unaltered, and ready to

accept another part of the starch
molecule

Enzymes are two types,

❖ Builders and Breakers.

➢ Builder enzymes do the opposite of breaker enzymes.

➢ Breakers break large molecules into smaller simpler ones,

builders combine smaller ones to make large molecules.

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Using the knowledge of previous topic discussed (Biological molecules), give an

example for a builder enzyme and a breaker enzyme in action.

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Breaker enzymes are used in the digestive system to break down large insoluble
molecules into simpler soluble ones to be used by the body.

They are also present in cells that respire to break down sugars and oxygen into
carbon dioxide, water and energy.

Builder enzymes are present in plants to be used in photosynthesis, the opposite of

respiration, in photosynthesis, oxygen and water are combined together to form
carbon dioxide and sugars.

Mr Maurice IGCSE Biology

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TASK

Sp.p03

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S12p21

Explain the specificity of enzymes

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Because enzymes are proteins, they are denatured by heat or some chemicals

What does Denaturing mean?

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Mr Maurice IGCSE Biology

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Effect of temperature on the enzyme’s activity:

Each enzyme has an optimum temperature, this is the temperature at which the
enzyme is most active, below this temperature the activity of the enzyme
decreases until it becomes inactive at low temperatures, above this optimum
temperature the enzyme becomes denatured and can no longer work.

At low temperatures the enzyme and the substrate are moving very slowly and
collide weakly, the enzyme is said to be inactive and doesn’t work.

As the temperature increases, the enzyme and substrate gain more kinetic energy
and move faster colliding more, the enzyme becomes more active and the reaction
takes place.

When the enzyme reaches it’s optimum temperature, it is in its most active mood,
if the temperature crosses the optimum the enzyme begins to get destroyed and
become denatured.

The enzymes become denatured when the shape of their active site changes as a
result of high temperature, thus the substrate cannot fit into the active site and
the enzyme is useless.

Each enzyme has its own optimum temperature; enzymes in humans have optimum
temperatures of around 40 degrees. Plants have enzymes with optimum
temperature of about 25 degrees.

Mr Maurice IGCSE Biology

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Effect of temperature on enzymes

The optimum (best) temperature for enzyme-controlled reactions is 370C (body

temperature).

As the temperature increases, the rate of reaction increases. But very high
temperatures denature enzymes.

The graph shows the typical change in an enzyme's activity with increasing
temperature.

The enzyme activity gradually increases with temperature up to around 37ºC, or

body temperature. Then, as the temperature continues to rise, the rate of
reaction falls rapidly as heat energy denatures the enzyme. Most enzymes are
denatured above 500C.

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Describe the Graph.

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Explain the Graph

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Mr Maurice IGCSE Biology

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The Effect of pH on the enzyme’s activity:

As in temperature, enzymes have an optimum pH. The pH is a scale measuring the

acidity or alkalinity of a substance or solution. The scale runs from 1 to 14. pH 7 is
neutral, below that it is acidic and above that it is alkaline.

Each enzyme has an optimum pH, if this pH changes, the shape of the active site of
the enzyme is changed, thus the substrate will not be able to fit in it, and the
enzyme becomes useless.

Effect of pH on enzymes

❖ The pH of a solution is how acidic or alkaline it is.

❖ Different enzymes work best at different pH values.

❖ The optimum pH for an enzyme depends on where it normally works.

❖ It is around neutral (pH= 7) for most enzymes but there are some

exceptions.

Changes in pH also alter an enzyme’s shape and slow down its activity, but this

can usually be reversed if the optimum pH is restored.

An extreme pH can denature enzymes – the active site is deformed

permanently.

Mr Maurice IGCSE Biology

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Mr Maurice IGCSE Biology

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Describe the Graph.

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Explain the Graph

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Mr Maurice IGCSE Biology