Carbohydrates and lipids provide energy stores and structural materials; proteins have varied roles including transport and catalysis.
Learning objectives
Relate carbohydrates, fats and proteins to roles.
Explain enzyme specificity.
Interpret temperature and pH effects.
The big idea
Carbohydrates and lipids provide energy stores and structural materials; proteins have varied roles including transport and catalysis. DNA carries inherited information, and water is a solvent for many reactions.
An enzyme’s active site binds suitable substrates and lowers activation energy. Temperature can increase reaction rate until structural changes reduce activity; a low rate does not by itself establish denaturation. Food-test results are chemical evidence, not dietary diagnoses.
Worked example
An enzyme forms 24 mg of product in 6 minutes. Find mean rate.
Follow the solution
Divide product formed by elapsed time: 24/6=4 mg per minute.
Investigate and explain
Using the worked example as supplied data, predict the effect of changing one condition. Draw a labelled model, record your reasoning and identify a variable that would need controlling. No human, animal or microbial experiment is required.
No exact PhET model is claimed for this topic. Use diagrams and supplied-data reasoning instead.