Activation energy for the acid catalysed hydrolysis of sucrose is `6.22 kJ-mol^(-1)`, while the activation energy is only `2.15kJ-mol^(-1)` when hydrolysis is catalysed by the enzyme sucrase. Explain.

Explanation

Enzymes are biocatalysts. They reduce the magnitude of activation energy by providing alternative path. In the hydrolysis of sucrose the enzyme sucrase reduces the activation energy from `6.22 kJ.mol^(-1) " to " 2.15 kJ.mol^(-1)`. Thus enzyme catalysed reactions proceed at a much faster rate than ordinary chemical reactions using conventional catalysts