Current Events > Biology people: Need help with a question. Which here is wrong?

(+) Yeah! (+)

I assume only one.... maybe two of these are wrong. I have used 3/4 of my chances and the thing is, with 9 options, there's little room for error. Does anyone know which one(s) is(are) wrong?
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6 and 7 are wrong i believe. pretty sure 1 is true. 3 and 4 are interesting, because the transition state is where the enzyme is acting as a catalyst to lower activation energy for the reaction, so the wording is questionable. i'd say 3 is false and 4 is true, but i'd have to look it up.
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That's the issue. The wording confuses me and the use of multiple answers puts a lot of pressure.

They added this video for reference, but I still feel the answer is cloudy.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yk14dOOvwMk" data-time="

Also, I was lead to believe that reactions would always happen, but enzymes only speed up the reactions.
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Sayoria posted...

Also, I was lead to believe that reactions would always happen, but enzymes only speed up the reactions.

that's an ambiguous statement at best. functionally its false, enzymes act as biological catalysts to allow for reactions that wouldn't happen in situ without extra energy. your video brings up the krebs cycle, every one of those steps could still happen without enzymes i suppose but they would become horribly inefficient, they'd take forever, and you'd likely end up with excess waste product every step of the way.

but arguing wording isn't going to help, so if the teacher says to follow that video then this is how i'd answer the question.

check 2,3,4,5,9.

the wording for the question is absolute crap, i hope its a homework problem and you take the chance to argue the wording with the teacher in class.

some reasoning.

1 is false by the video's definition, video clearly states the reactions would happen without the enzyme. that's stupid, because functionally they wouldn't, but follow the video.
7 & 8 are wrong because bonds are formed. obviously the molecule being catalyzed is forming new bonds. less obviously the enzyme is forming temporary bonds during the reaction to help position the molecule. important point about a catalyst isn't that its not directly used in a reaction, its that its returned to its original state when the reaction is done.
6 is false because enzymes aren't breaking thermodynamic laws and giving free energy to a system.

i still dont like option 3 and 4, the whole point of an enzyme is that it lowers the activation energy of a reaction and stabilizes the transition state. i'd say uncheck them, but damn it if the transition state isn't higher energy then the pre and post reaction state and less stable irregardless of the enzyme.
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I thought it said specifically in the video (3:43) that the enzyme wasn't changed, so I would assume #10 would be marked true as well.

But yeah. I hate that about multiple choice questions like this. There's no specifics behind them. I mean, #1 has had me confused because I was reading it as "Reactions would never happen on their own without enzymes" which I would think is untrue because they would...... if they lasted long enough and had the time for it, but then it said "can", so I mean.....

Yeah. I have a feeling I am going to get this last attempt wrong with whatever I do.
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Is that Schoology?
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Sayoria posted...

I thought it said specifically in the video (3:43) that the enzyme wasn't changed, so I would assume #10 would be marked true as well.

But yeah. I hate that about multiple choice questions like this. There's no specifics behind them. I mean, #1 has had me confused because I was reading it as "Reactions would never happen on their own without enzymes" which I would think is untrue because they would...... if they lasted long enough and had the time for it, but then it said "can", so I mean.....

Yeah. I have a feeling I am going to get this last attempt wrong with whatever I do.

this is homework right? bite the bullet, answer to the best of your ability, and bring it up in class. like i said, i'd check 2,3,4,5,9. since they're the ones technically correct based on the video.

1 is functionally correct, because functionally an enzyme allows for a reaction that wouldn't happen in situ at least within any useful time frame. but it's technically wrong, because technically you could wait an eternity or throw excess energy into the reaction or fiddle with the pH, and the reaction would occur.

so dont check 1, because its technically incorrect.
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monkmith posted...

Sayoria posted...

I thought it said specifically in the video (3:43) that the enzyme wasn't changed, so I would assume #10 would be marked true as well.

But yeah. I hate that about multiple choice questions like this. There's no specifics behind them. I mean, #1 has had me confused because I was reading it as "Reactions would never happen on their own without enzymes" which I would think is untrue because they would...... if they lasted long enough and had the time for it, but then it said "can", so I mean.....

Yeah. I have a feeling I am going to get this last attempt wrong with whatever I do.

this is homework right? bite the bullet, answer to the best of your ability, and bring it up in class. like i said, i'd check 2,3,4,5,9. since they're the ones technically correct based on the video.

1 is functionally correct, because functionally an enzyme allows for a reaction that wouldn't happen in situ at least within any useful time frame. but it's technically wrong, because technically you could wait an eternity or throw excess energy into the reaction or fiddle with the pH, and the reaction would occur.

so dont check 1, because its technically incorrect.

But what makes 10 incorrect by the video then? Because like I said, it says it is correct at 3:43 unless I am reading into it wrong.
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Sayoria posted...

monkmith posted...

Sayoria posted...

I thought it said specifically in the video (3:43) that the enzyme wasn't changed, so I would assume #10 would be marked true as well.

But yeah. I hate that about multiple choice questions like this. There's no specifics behind them. I mean, #1 has had me confused because I was reading it as "Reactions would never happen on their own without enzymes" which I would think is untrue because they would...... if they lasted long enough and had the time for it, but then it said "can", so I mean.....

Yeah. I have a feeling I am going to get this last attempt wrong with whatever I do.

this is homework right? bite the bullet, answer to the best of your ability, and bring it up in class. like i said, i'd check 2,3,4,5,9. since they're the ones technically correct based on the video.

1 is functionally correct, because functionally an enzyme allows for a reaction that wouldn't happen in situ at least within any useful time frame. but it's technically wrong, because technically you could wait an eternity or throw excess energy into the reaction or fiddle with the pH, and the reaction would occur.

so dont check 1, because its technically incorrect.

But what makes 10 incorrect by the video then? Because like I said, it says it is correct at 3:43 unless I am reading into it wrong.

unless i'm counting wrong there are 9 choices not 10...
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monkmith posted...

Sayoria posted...

monkmith posted...

Sayoria posted...

I thought it said specifically in the video (3:43) that the enzyme wasn't changed, so I would assume #10 would be marked true as well.

But yeah. I hate that about multiple choice questions like this. There's no specifics behind them. I mean, #1 has had me confused because I was reading it as "Reactions would never happen on their own without enzymes" which I would think is untrue because they would...... if they lasted long enough and had the time for it, but then it said "can", so I mean.....

Yeah. I have a feeling I am going to get this last attempt wrong with whatever I do.

this is homework right? bite the bullet, answer to the best of your ability, and bring it up in class. like i said, i'd check 2,3,4,5,9. since they're the ones technically correct based on the video.

1 is functionally correct, because functionally an enzyme allows for a reaction that wouldn't happen in situ at least within any useful time frame. but it's technically wrong, because technically you could wait an eternity or throw excess energy into the reaction or fiddle with the pH, and the reaction would occur.

so dont check 1, because its technically incorrect.

But what makes 10 incorrect by the video then? Because like I said, it says it is correct at 3:43 unless I am reading into it wrong.

unless i'm counting wrong there are 9 choices not 10...

Oh, whoops. My mistake.
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Don't know if I will get a response from anyone tonight, but I sent an email asking for elaboration on question 1. If I cannot get a response, I will submit an answer for this in the morning, since I have up until 12 noon my time. Thank you.
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@monkmith

My instructor responded:

Its not a fabulous question - I had in mind never as impossible not very unlikely. So an enzyme can get a reaction to go if it is possible (even if very unliilkey) but some reactions really cant happen and an enzyme wont help - theyre not magic. Does that make sense?

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And I submitted. You were right Monk! Thank you!!!!!
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neat. really the question just exposed the downside of multiple choice questions.
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monkmith posted...

neat. really the question just exposed the downside of multiple choice questions.

Not going to lie. I freak out with multiple choice questions. I would much rather short answers. Multiple choice can be misinterpreted, or not properly explained. I know whenever I would get paper multiple choice exams, I almost always write little notes on the paper saying things like "Well, this says sometimes, but I know that this does happen almost ALL the time, so this is why I chose this" or whatever.

The absolute worst questions are true or false ones. It's always a one-shot deal and too easy to overlook something.

Again, thank you. This is going to be a gauntlet after having lost those points earlier.
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