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What is a Catalyst?
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What is a Catalyst? "A substance, which accelerates or retards a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change." The New Choice English Dictionary 1999 Enzymes are biological catalysts. There are about 40,000 different enzymes in human cells, each controlling a different chemical reaction. They increase the rate of reactions by a factor of between 106 to 1012 times, allowing the reactions to take place at normal temperatures. Eduard Buchner discovered them in 1900 in fermenting yeast. The name enzyme means "in yeast". Enzymes are proteins, and their function is determined by their complex globular three-dimensional structure. "Typically enzymes speed up a chemical reaction between one million (106) and one trillion (1012) times- the equivalent of accelerating a life span of 100 years into the space of 1 sec". Toole & Toole Understanding Biology for Advanced level 4th Edition 1999 PG 35 www.stratgis.ic.gc.ca./ssgf/0048e.html The reaction takes place in an area of...
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