Give an example of a reaction in which you may want to increase the rate of the chemical reaction.?

Question

Give an example of a reaction in which you may want to increase the rate of the chemical reaction. What would be the best way to do this? Give an example of a reaction in which you may want to decrease the rate of the chemical reaction. What would be the best way to do this?

Answer 1

 An important reaction in the body is digestion. Digestion needs to occur quickly so that a living thing can get its energy. An important enzyme that catalyzes digestion in the human body is Amylase. Amylase is secreted in the mouth in the form of saliva, and is also secreted from the pancreas into the stomach to further digest food particles and starches. It helps in digestion primarily because it breaks starches (a carbohydrate consisting of a large number of glucose units bonded together) into single glucose sugar molecules. That explains why some starchy foods with little sugar may taste sugary after chewing them extensively. Without Amylase and other enzymes used for digestion, we would not be able to digest our food quickly enough to give the body enough energy it needs to function normally. Also, food would be very difficult to swallow, and would stay much longer in the body because it would digest too slowly.