Enzymes drastically lower the energy barrier for biochemical reactions. The uncatalyzed acid hydroly — Biomolecules Chemistry Question
Question
Enzymes drastically lower the energy barrier for biochemical reactions. The uncatalyzed acid hydrolysis of sucrose requires an activation energy of approximately $6.22\text{ kJ/mol}$. When this exact reaction is biologically catalyzed by the specific enzyme sucrase, the activation energy drops significantly to $x\text{ kJ/mol}$. Determine the nearest integer value of $x$.
💡 Solution & Explanation
Enzymes operate by providing an alternative reaction pathway with a significantly lower activation energy. While the acid-catalyzed hydrolysis of sucrose requires $6.22\text{ kJ/mol}$, the presence of the enzyme sucrase drops the activation energy to just $2.15\text{ kJ/mol}$. Rounding to the nearest integer yields $2$.