How do enzymes work

biology gcse aqa

enzymes are biological catalysis in the body which means they speed up chemical reactions without being used up in the process.

the main concept is the lock and key theory, every enzyme has an active site which has a unique shape for a specific substrate. Enzymes can only catalyse one specific reaction

for an enzyme to work the substrate has to fit into the active site and if it doesn't fit the active site the reaction will not take place., the active site may change shape a little as the substrate binds to it to get a tighter fit, this is called an induced fit.

Basically enzymes are biological catalysts. They speed up chemical reactions. Enzymes are required mostly of the chemical reactions that happen in organisms. These reactions happen in the breakdown of chemical molecules. That is what we see in our digestive system.