Question

Below is a free energy change graph for a reaction in which reactants A+B produce the product D. Use the data given to answer the following questions: What does the hump in the middle represent? What is the name of the general class of proteins that are needed to help the reactions go through that hump in a cell? How do they help the reaction go through? In this reaction is the free energy of the reactants or the free energy of the products higher? Based on your answer to part C, is this an endergonic or exergonic reaction? Explain.

Answer 1

The general energy graphs are as follows, Activation energy Reactants 9energy released Products Reaction Progress Exothermic reaction So, the Hump represents activation energy. It is defined as the minimum amount of energy is required for conversion of reactants into products. B) The general class of proteins that involves this type of energy reactions are called enzymes. Enzymes are the proteins, which decrease the activation energy of reaction and catalyse the reaction process. All enzymes are catalysts because,

They bind to the substrates reversibly, and do not alter the chemical equilibrium between the substrate and product, while increasing the rate of reaction An enzyme does not participate in the reaction or change its structure in a reaction. It decreases the activation energy required for a reaction to procee The activity of enzymes is influenced by the factors such as temperature, pH, substrate concentration, enzyme concentration, etc. The enzymes perform best at their optimum temperature and pH values, beyond which the activity decrease For example, the optimal pH of pepsin (proteolysis enzyme) is 10 The following are the examples of three metabolic reactions catalysed by enzymes 1). Synthesis reactions: Synthesis reaction is a chemical reaction, in which smaller molecule are assembled into larger ones. For example, synthesis of glycogen from glucose molecules 2). Degradation or decomposition reactions: The macromolecules are degraded into simple molecules. For example, the degradation of proteins into amino acids C) The reaction is an exothermic process, so free energy of reactants is higher than products D)

It is an exergonic reaction.