Investigate Enzymes as Catalysts

Catalysts are substances that speed up chemical reactions.

 

When you think of chemical reactions, you probably imagine something spectacular that takes place in a science lab? Well, chemical reactions can be like this, but chemical reactions can also go on inside the body, unseen by anyone. 

 

The catalysts that speed up reactions in the body are called enzymes. Enzymes are biological catalysts, as they are important in biological reactions such as digestion. 

 

 

Digestion would take place without enzymes, but much slower. In the presence of various enzymes it is a much speedier process.

 

The three main enzymes in digestion are:

 

Carbohydrase

Protease

Lipase

 

Lipase speeds up the breakdown of fats in our food.

The word equation is shown below:

Fat → Fatty acids + glycerol

 

Protease speeds up the breakdown of protein into amino acids.

Carbohydrase speeds up the breakdown of carbohydrates into sugars. 

 

Now each of these three enzymes is slightly different to the others, so they only work on their own reactions. Lipase for example, will not speed up the breakdown of proteins. 

 

Are you ready to try some questions about enzymes?