Now, i am studying for my biology exam in 3 weeks time...i stumbled upon catalase, and then checked my book its catalyst...now im confused...is there a different among these 2 terms? i think..catalyst is the when a substance brings up or about a chemical reaction without using itself up and then catalase breaks down the toxic by-product of metabolism, hydrogen peroxide, into water and oxygen.Or am i wrong?please explain what is catalyst and catalase in biology or are they the same, just differently?
an enzyme that decomposes hydrogen peroxide into oxygen and water.a substance that causes or accelerates a chemical reaction without itself being affected. To put thing simply, a catalyst is any substance that speeds up a chemical reaction. These can be natural or manmade. Catalase is actually a specific type of naturally-occuring catalyst, an enzyme in cells that decomposes hydrogen peroxide (Which is extremely toxic to life!) into harmless components. Catalase enzymes are highly concentrated in the aptly named cell organelles known as peroxisomes. Just remember- if the word ends in -ase, it's a type of enzyme! :) Hope this information helps!
A catalyst is a chemical which speeds up a reaction but without being used up in the reaction, so can be used over again. Catalase is an example of an enzyme which are biological catalysts ie speed up reactions in cells. Enzymes are specific and the enzyme catalase breaks down hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen. A catalyst which also breaks down hydrogen peroxide is manganese dioxide.
Catalysts and catalase are two different things, and the definitions that you listed are correct. A catalyst is something that speeds up the rate of a chemical reaction. Many chemical reactions occur naturally and do not require any energy, but they occur so slowly that they are not useful, and catalysts can be used in cases like this to speed up the process. For example iron metal exposed to oxygen and water turns to rust, but if you need a lot of rust by tomorrow, leaving a chunk of iron out in the rain is not a practical solution because it will take too long to convert all that iron metal into rust.
