The Effects of Substrate Concentration

If the enzyme concentration is fixed:

• The higher the concentration of substrate, the higher the rate of
reaction as more substrate molecules bind to the active site of
the enzymes to form the enzyme-substrate complex.
• The enzyme molecules are saturated with substrate. The excess
substrate molecules cannot react until the substrate already
bound to the enzymes has reacted and been released.
• Therefore, at the maximum level, the concentration of enzymes
becomes a limiting factor.
The Effects of Enzyme Concentration
If the substrate concentration is fixed:
• The higher the concentration of enzymes, the higher the rate of
reaction as there are more active sites for substrate molecules to
bind to and form the enzyme-substrate complex.
• If the concentration of an enzyme in one reaction is doubled, the
amount of substrate converted to products per-unit of time is also
doubled.
• The rate of reaction will decrease when all substrate is used up
and can only be increased by adding more substrate.
• Therefore, at the maximum level, the concentration of substrate
becomes a limiting factor.