Activation Energy In Chemical Reaction

Energy needed for life comes from the breaking or forming of chemical bonds during chemical reactions. Energy is released in the formation of bonds and energy is also released when the bonds are broken, but in both energy is required to start the chemical reaction. This energy needed to start a chemical reaction, activation energy, comes from enzymes. Enzymes (almost always proteins) are organic catalysts that help speed up the rate of reactions and allow the reactants to get the most out of the energy available. They do this without changing the reaction. Without an enzyme, then many chemical reactions may not occur because the activation energy could be too high to be reached without the help of an enzyme. For example, table salt, or sucrose, …show more content…
These specific reactants are called substrates. Substrates are the molecules that goes through the changes in the chemical reaction. Enzymes are described as specific because each has an active site that is shaped differently to correlate with the substrates it reacts with. An active site is where the substrate fits into, it is a pocket on the surface of the enzyme. Sometimes the enzyme and substrate don’t fit perfectly together, this is when induced fit comes in. Induced fit is when the enzyme has to slightly rearrange it’s shape to get a tighter fit on the substrate. For the substrate to bind to the enzyme it must have a noncovalent interaction such as, a hydrogen bond. Once the enzyme is done binding to the substrate and the product has been created, the enzyme releases the product and can now find new substrates to repeat the same steps. The enzyme speeds the reaction and allows the cell to release …show more content…
The inhibitors could be similar to the substrate but don’t react or do very slowly. A competitive inhibitor enters the active site and blocks the substrate from being able to enter the active site and can be overpowered by the increasing of the concentration of the substrate. A noncompetitive inhibitor does enter the active site but rather attaches to the enzyme in another spot, where it attaches is known as the allosteric site. When it binds to the enzyme the active site is rearranged and the substrate will no longer fit. When a cell is producing more of a product then intended, a inhibitor can be used to stop the production. This type of inhibition is called feedback inhibition. Inhibitors are also used to regulate cellular metabolism. Cellular metabolism is any biochemical reactions that take place in a cell and are catalysed by