why are enzymes sensitive to temperature and pH changes?

Answer 1

Enzymes are made up of amino acids and are therefore essentially a type of protein.

Think about what happens to protein if you heat it (what happens when you boil an egg)!

Proteins coagulate and lose their shape and thus their function.

Enzyme proteins are no different and are sensitive to temperature.

pH changes can affect the charges of the various amino acid side groups and thus also change the shape (and thus the function) of the enzyme (or other protein)

Enzymes (and other proteins) function best within a certain range of temperature and pH. Outside this range, their function is impaired.

The usual temperature ranges for human enzymes is centered around human body temperature 35-39 degrees Celcius (95-102 Farenheit) - optimally around 36-37C (97-98F)

Usual pH range is 7.35 - 7.45

Answer 2

First of all, what is an enzyme? An enzyme is a biological catalyst that speeds up a chemical reaction without being used up in the reaction itself.

There are a number of factors that affect enzyme activity:
1. temperature
2.pH
3.enzyme concentration
4.substrate concentration

Like any chemical reaction, the rate of an enzyme-controlled reacrion increases when the temperature increases, bec. more heat means more kinetic energy so molecules move faster. This makes the enzyme more likely to collide with its substrate. However this increases in temperature can only go up to a certain extent after which the enzymes particles vibrate so much that the bonds holding the enzymes shape in place break and this ruins the active site and so the enzyme and substrate no longer fit together. At this point the enzyme is DENATURED.

All enzymes have an optimum pH value. Above and below this optimum pH the H+ and OH- ions mess up the ionic bonds that hold the enzymes tertiary structure in place. Again the active site is changed and the enzyme is DENATURED.

Answer 3

Enzymes And Ph

Answer 4

Enzymes are proteins, which mean that they are long chains of amino-acid peptides.

The longer the chain, the more likely some amino acids in the same chain will attract or repel other amino acids, cauing the chain to buckle and bend in places, and to straighen and stretch in places, giving it a very specific shape.

The longer the chain, the more apt it is to break apart into smaller chains.

Some of the things that can cause a peptide chain to break apart is temperature, which prevents the peptide chain from maintaining its shape, and eventually falling apart all together.

pH fluctuation also causes the peptide chain to lose its shape, and eventually fall apart, because the amino acids which are mutually attractive at one pH level lose that attraction at other pH levels, as they become more attracted to or more repulsed by the greater ambiance of extra protons in the plasm.

Unless a protein is in a very specific shape, it cannot and does not work as an enzyme.

Answer 5

sensitive :
Temp:
1.enzymes and substrate molecules have more kinetic energy with increasing temperature.
2. Enzyme shape chages with temp.
PH:
The shape(active sites) & activity of enzyme molecules is affected by PH.

Answer 6

temperature makes things speed up therefore enzymes will be sensitive and pH changes will change enzymes because they need to get used to different pH levels like people need to adapt to new environment