Question

How do enzymatic catalysts increase the rates of reactions?

Answer 1

For a reaction to occur, substrate particles need to collide with each other with enough force (To overcome activation energy), at the right orientation for a successful collision, causing a reaction to occur.

Enzyme catalysts are a type of protein that has a specific 3 dimensional conformation. They have specific reaction sites called active sites. Substrates collides with the enzyme and binds to the active site if it fits to the specific 3 dimensional conformation. This allows bonds to be either formed or broken for reactions to occur.

This process provides an alternative reaction pathway with lower activation energy to enable the rate of reaction to increase.