Chapter 6, Problem 1RE

RECALL How does the catalytic effectiveness of enzymes compare with that of nonenzymatic catalysts?

Interpretation Introduction

Interpretation:

The comparison between the catalytic effectiveness of the enzyme and the nonenzymatic catalysts.

Concept introduction:

The process through which the rate of a chemical reaction is increased is termed as catalysis. The functional proteins and some self-splicing ribonucleic acid molecules serve to increase the rate of a reaction and they are known as catalysts. In the biological system, they are known as enzymes.

Enzymes are largely organic in nature and are produced by the organism’s body itself, while catalysts can be organic or inorganic in nature. The catalysts and enzymes are not used up in the chemical reaction, they just alter the rate of the reaction.

Answer to Problem 1RE

The enzymatic catalysts are mainly proteins and some RNA molecules that show higher catalytic activity in terms of specificity, the speed of the reaction than nonenzymatic catalysts, which are organic or inorganic molecules.

Explanation of Solution

The difference between the enzymatic catalysts and nonenzymatic catalysts are as follows:

Enzymatic catalyst	Nonenzymatic catalyst
The enzymatic catalysts are complex proteins and speed up the chemical reactions that occur in the biological system.	The nonenzymatic catalyst increases or decreases the rate of chemical reactions that occur outside the biological system.
The enzymatic catalysts are highly specific in nature.	The nonenzymatic catalysts are not very specific in nature.
The enzymatic catalysts increase the rate of reaction by an order of 1020.	The nonenzymatic catalysts are comparatively slower and increase the rate of reaction about 102 to 104 times.
The enzyme catalyst requires optimum physiological conditions.	The nonenzymatic catalysts require high temperature or pressure.

Conclusion

Therefore, it can be concluded that the catalytic effectiveness of the enzymatic catalyst is higher than that of a nonenzymatic catalyst. The enzymatic catalyst is more specific in nature than the nonenzymatic catalyst.