What effect does a competitive inhibitor have on enzyme activity?

What effect does a competitive inhibitor have on enzyme activity?

Step 1: Understand what an enzyme is. An enzyme is a protein that helps speed up chemical reactions in the body.
Step 2: Know what a substrate is. A substrate is the molecule that an enzyme acts on.
Step 3: Learn about competitive inhibitors. A competitive inhibitor is a substance that competes with the substrate for the enzyme's active site.
Step 4: Recognize the effect of a competitive inhibitor. When a competitive inhibitor is present, it makes it harder for the substrate to bind to the enzyme.
Step 5: Understand Km. Km is a measure of how much substrate is needed for the enzyme to work at half of its maximum speed.
Step 6: Realize that a competitive inhibitor increases Km. This means that more substrate is needed to reach half of the enzyme's maximum activity.
Step 7: Conclude that the presence of a competitive inhibitor decreases the efficiency of the enzyme because it requires more substrate to achieve the same level of activity.

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