The Effect of the Enzyme Concentration on the Rate of Reaction.

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Experiment title: The effect of the enzyme concentration on the rate of reaction. Objective: To determine the effect of different concentration value of the enzyme amylase in starch solution Introduction: All reactions have different reaction rates. However, there are some common factors that will affect the rate of reaction. These factors are temperature, catalyst, and concentration. In this case, the most effective factor is the reactant concentration, where the reactant is the enzyme. Enzymes are composed of proteins; therefore their characteristics reflect the properties of proteins which are extremely interesting properties that make enzymes little chemical-reaction machines. The purpose of an enzyme in a cell is to allow the cell to carry out chemical reactions very quickly. These reactions allow the cell to build things or take things apart as needed. This is how a cell grows and reproduces. At the most basic level, a cell is really a little bag full of chemical reactions that are made possible by enzymes.(Marshal Brain, nb) In one sense, enzymes operate in the same way as a key operates a lock; each key has a very specific shape which ,on the whole, fits and operates only one lock. In the same way a substrate will only fit the active site of one particular enzyme. Enzymes are therefore specific in the reaction that they catalyse. The shape of the substrate is the exact fit of the active site of the enzyme (lock). This is known as the key-lock theory. And explains, in a simple way, what exactly happens (Model below). (Glenn Toole and Susan Toole, 2004) (C.Ophardit, 2003) One of these enzymes is amylase which can be found in our saliva and pancreatic juices. Amylase is a common enzyme that breaks down starch which is the substrate. Starch makes up a large portion of our diet and needs to be digested before being absorbed in the stomach

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