Random OT question - some help?

[Sarikate]

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I am taking an anatomy class right now. I was an undergrad neuro major and studied enzymes and substrates until I was blue in the face. Now this little intro course, for my lab homework, is making me figure out this stupid analogy: how does a nut, bolt, and wrench work like an enzyme-substrate complex?

The funniest thing about this question is that I don't know the difference between a nut and a bolt. Is a nut the little hexagonal guy with the hole in the middle, and the bolt the screw-type thing?

Is this pathetic or what?

 

[seismicCHICK]

hehehe!! yah you got it. 👍

 

[Sarikate]

I wrote that the enzyme is the bolt. The active site is on the bolt. The substrate is the nut. The E-S complex is the bolt+nut. The product is the tightened bolt+nut complex. The catalyst is the wrench. Am I way off base?

This class is making me tear my hair out.

 

[MaximusD]

An enzyme IS a catalyst unless the reaction is heat or pH catalyzed.