Compared with an inorganic catalyst such as manganese dioxide, an enzyme is
- A. far less efficient
- B. highly specific and effective at mild temperature and pH
- C. unaffected by temperature
- D. consumed during the reaction
Explanation
Enzymes achieve rate enhancements that industrial catalysts cannot approach and do so at body temperature and near neutral pH, but they work on one substrate or one class of substrate only. Their protein nature also makes them sensitive to heat and pH, which an inorganic catalyst is not. Like all catalysts, they emerge unchanged.
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