Enzyme Kinetics and its Graph
Enzyme kinetics involves the measurement of the rate at which chemical reactions that are catalyzed by enzymes occur.
Knowledge about the kinetics of an enzyme can reveal useful information about its catalytic mechanism, role in metabolism, factors that impact its activity, and mechanisms of inhibition. The graph depicts the changing concentration of enzymes across the bottom, x-axis of the graph,
and depicts the rate of reaction across the side, y-axis of the graph. Initially increasing the concentration of enzymes will increase the rate of a reaction that starts with no enzymes present, as shown in the graph.
A straight line would indicate a constant rate of reaction, while a curve indicates a change in the rate (or speed) of a reaction over time. If a straight line or curve flattens into a horizontal line that indicates no further change in the rate of the reaction from a certain level.
