Describe the profile you would expect for a biological catalyst. Complete the sentences to explain why an enzyme is different than an inorganic catalyst. Match the words to the appropriate blanks in the sentences.

Multiple
Organic
slower
a single
high
faster
inroganic
low
about the same

When looking at the plot G versus reaction coordinate, the profile for a biological catalyst (e. g. an enzyme) will have transition state(s), with an overall activation energy that is in comparison to the uncatalyzed reaction.

Enzymes have a molecular weight and are compounds, while inorganic catalysts often have a molecular weight and are compounds.

When comparing rates, enzymes are typically several times than inorganic catalysts.

- When looking at the plot G versus reaction coordinate, the profile for a biological catalyst (e.g. an enzyme) will have about the same transition state(s), with an overall activation energy that is low in comparison to the uncatalyzed reaction.

- Enzymes have a high molecular weight and are organic compounds, while inorganic catalysts often have a low molecular weight and are inorganic compounds.

- When comparing rates, enzymes are typically several times faster than inorganic catalysts.

Explanation:

Enzymes are organic molecules capable of producing a faster chemical reaction. In an enzymatic reaction the transition state -corresponding to the state in which the substrates or products are equally likely- tends to be the same, while the energy required for the reaction decreases.

The differences between an enzyme and an inorganic catalyst are structural and functional:

most historians agree that gabriel mouton, the vicar of st. paul’s church in lyons, france, is the “founding father” of the metric system. he proposed a decimal system of measurement in 1670. mouton based it on the length of one minute of arc of a great circle of the earth (now called a nautical mile, 1852 meters). he also proposed the swing-length of a pendulum with a frequency of one beat per second as the unit of length (about 25 cm). a pendulum beating with this length would have been fairly easy to produce, thus facilitating the widespread distribution of uniform standards. over the years, his work was revised, improved, and extended by a number of french scientists.

the political sponsor of weights and measures reform in the french revolutionary national assembly was the bishop of autun, better known as talleyrand. under his auspices, the french academy appointed several committees to carry out the work of developing a usable system of weights and measures for france. one of the committees recommended a decimalized measurement system based upon a length equal to one ten-millionth of the length of a quadrant of the earth’s meridian (i.e., one ten-millionth of the distance between the equator and the north pole).