Exam skills
What the paper asks you to do
- Describe and explain rate graphs
- Plan a fair enzyme investigation
- Use collision and denaturation language accurately
Foundations
Enzymes
Explain enzyme specificity and interpret how temperature, pH and concentration affect reaction rate.5090 syllabus routeConcept · skill · exam language
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Your study notes
What to know
Build the topic around four anchors.
- 01Active sites and specificity
- 02Temperature and kinetic energy
- 03pH and enzyme shape
- 04Rate investigations and controls
Common mistakes
Where marks disappear
- Saying enzymes are killed
- Treating optimum as the same for every enzyme
- Describing a graph without explaining the change
Turn this topic into a clear answer.
Write your response, reveal the teaching points, and check your own reasoning.
Practise this topic’s structured questions ↗Structured practice
Answer these without looking back.
For each prompt, write the biological chain clearly enough that every mark-worthy link is visible.
- 01Explain the shape of a temperature-rate curve.
- 02Identify controls in an amylase experiment.
- 03Predict the effect of extreme pH on an active site.
Continue learning
Read the connected explanation.
Understand what an active site really does, why rates change, and how competitive and non-competitive inhibitors differ.
This independent teaching resource follows the Cambridge O Level Biology 5090 syllabus direction and is not endorsed by Cambridge International Education.