Question

protein is broken into its smaller units by a protease enzyme. the graph shows how the activity of a protease is affected by temperature. describe how the rate of reaction of this protease varies with temperature

Answer 1

About the question:

You will find the graph in the attached files

Answer:

1. An increase in the rate of reaction from near zero -at approximately 5ºC- to a maximum rate of reaction -at 40ºC-.
2. 40ºC is the optimum temperature at which the enzymatic activity is the highest.
3. From 40ºC to 50ºC there is a sharp decrease in the enzyme activity due to the protein denaturalization.

Explanation:  

Before answering this question, remember that enzymes are proteins, so they share many properties with all proteins. One of these properties is that they have a limited temperature level from which they denaturalize.

In general, the increase in temperature accelerates chemical reactions. For every 10ºC of temperature increase, the reaction velocity duplicates. The temperature at which the enzymatic activity is the highest is known as optimum temperature. After this point, the enzymatic activity sharply decreases. The temperature in the environment exceeds the optimum one and denaturalize the enzyme. Over this level, the reaction velocity is counteracted by the loss of the catalytic activity due to denaturalization. Enzymatic activity decreases until it completely annulates.

The graph shows

• An increase in the rate of reaction from near zero -at approximately 5ºC- to a maximum rate of reaction -at 40ºC-.
• 40ºC is the optimum temperature at which the enzymatic activity is the highest.
• From 40ºC to 50ºC there is a sharp decrease in the enzyme activity due to the protein denaturalization.