thermophiles vs psychrophiles (Please help!)

[aztectgirl]

Ok so will enzymes need to lower activation energy more or less in thermophiles than in psychrophiles?

high temperatures tend to denature proteins and that tends to be compensated by a decrease in activation energy of cellular reactions,
. At low temperatures, most molecules don’t have enough energy to react. But individual molecules can have more or less energy, because the temperature is the average energy of a system. With increased temperature there is an increase in the proportion of molecules with more energy than the activation energy. This causes the rate of reaction to increase. In a colder environment there is less energy, so lower activation energy is favorable so that energy can be stored and saved.

but which needs it more????

[mith]

Do you understand these terms first of all?

[aztectgirl]

yes i do.. thermophiles exist in higher temp and psychrophiles exist in colder temp.. I have just had conflicting responses from other classmates.. but I thought psychrophiles b/c they exist in a cold temp and therefore dont have much energy.. but i dont know for sure

[mith]

You said:
With increased temperature there is an increase in the proportion of molecules with more energy than the activation energy.

Therefore, you have to worry less about activation energy. QED.

[aztectgirl]

i just wanted to confirm if that was right.. it is my answer but I wanted to see if someone agreed.. do you??

[Jammerz]

He does, and so do I.