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Catalysts/Enzymes and Activation energy
Kennedy_4952
#1 Posted : Thursday, June 18, 2020 1:02:04 AM
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So I forget which specific ICE it was for, but I encountered a question that had "____, because the enzyme lowers activation energy" as an option, and I immediately thought "that's not true!" and thus, cast away that option (which was in fact, was the correct answer).

Essentially I was wondering if energy of activation is lowered by enzymes/catalysts? I watched the med reels videos for biochemistry concerning this topic and I thought that the instructor said that enzymes/catalysts do not actually lower activation energy.

Thank you!
INSTR_Katerina_102
#2 Posted : Thursday, June 18, 2020 1:05:51 AM
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An enzyme cannot change the distributions of products and reactants, that is, it cannot alter their relative energy states.

However, recall that enzymes accelerate reactions (in both directions).

Reaction rate is related to activation energy (the harder homework is the less you want to do it), and so a decrease in activation energy will accelerate a reaction.

It is a really interesting thing, but enzymes do actually bind to and stabilize a transition state to reduce activation energy and accelerate a reaction. This is not to be confused with binding to the substrate or product, which would change the overall reaction energy and therefore your distribution of products and reactants.
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