THE EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE AND PH ON ENZYMES

• • As we increase the temperature, the activity of the enzyme increases (the reaction gets faster)
  • As the temperature increases, the enzyme and substrate are moving faster so theres more collisions per second between substrate and active site
  • Optimum temperature - temperature where enzyme is working at the fastest possible rate
  • As we increase the temperature past the optimum, the activity of the enzyme rapidly decreases to zero
• • At high temperatures, enzyme molecule vibrates and shape of active site changes
  • Now substrate no longer fits perfectly into the active site, active site is denatured
  • The enzyme can no longer catalyse the reaction
• • The enzyme has a optimum pH where the activity is maximum
  • If we make the pH more acidic or more alkaline then the activity drops to zero as the active site denatures if the conditions are too acidic or too alkaline