1. A catalyst is a substance that speeds up a chemical reaction without being affected chemically in the reaction. The addition of a catalyst enables the reaction to reach equilibrium at a faster rate compared to similar reactions occurring without catalysts.
2. Enzymes are biological or organic catalysts, which speed up a reaction without undergoing any permanent changes themselves.
3. Most enzymes are made up from globular proteins that are produced by living cell. In the few special cases in which RNA demonstrates enzymatic activity the term ribozyme is used.
4. Before a reaction can occur, the reactants must absorb energy to break chemical bonds. The amount of energy required for a reaction to proceed is called the activation energy. In our body, enzymes lower the activation energy by forming a complex with particular molecules.
5. The reactant in an enzymatic reaction are substrate. Enzyme are often name after their substrate. For instance, maltase is the enzyme that digest or hydrolyses maltose into glucose.
6. Enzymes are normally larger than the substrate molecule. Only a small a part the enzyme molecule actually comes into contact with the substrate. This region is called active site, where the reaction occurs.
7. An enzyme ( E ) combine with its substrate ( S ) to form an enzyme-substrate complex, which then dissociates into products ( P ) and enzyme ( E ), as stated in the following equation :
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