Enzyme Kinetics
A Modern Approach
Chapter One
TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES OF
KINETIC ANALYSIS
1.1 GENERALITIES
Chemists are concerned with the laws of chemical interactions. The theories
that have been expounded to explain such interactions are based
largely on experimental results. Two main approaches have been used to
explain chemical reactivity: thermodynamic and kinetic. In thermodynamics,
conclusions are reached on the basis of changes in energy and entropy
that accompany a particular chemical change in a system. From the magnitude
and sign of the free-energy change of a reaction, it is possible to
predict the direction in which a chemical change will take place. Thermodynamic
quantities do not, however, provide any information on the rate
or mechanism of a chemical reaction. Theoretical analysis of the kinetics,
or time course, of processes can provide valuable information concerning
the underlying mechanisms responsible for these processes. For this purpose
it is necessary to construct a mathematical model that embodies the
hypothesized mechani ... read full excerpt from Enzyme Kinetics: A Modern Approach ebook
