Lower the Hill, Move Nothing Else

An enzyme is the most over-credited molecule in biology. Students hand it powers it does not have: supplying energy, changing ΔG, dragging an unfavourable reaction uphill, spending itself to do it. It does exactly one thing — it lowers the activation barrier — and every other property of the reaction survives untouched. Watch a substrate bind, get strained, split and leave. Then watch the enzyme still standing there, and watch the equilibrium refuse to budge.

AP BIOLOGY · 8 STEPS · 6 QUICK CHECKS · E_a 75 → 25 kJ/mol · ΔG −60 kJ/mol, UNCHANGED · CATALYST = NOT CONSUMED · v1