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Topic: Molar mass of enzyme  (Read 4233 times)

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Offline halp

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Molar mass of enzyme
« on: March 24, 2017, 06:54:13 PM »
QUESTION:
Nitrogen fixation in the root nodules of peas and other legumes occurs with a reaction involving a molybdenum-containing enzyme called nitrogenase. This enzyme contains two Mo atoms per molecule and is 0.0872% Mo by mass. What is the molar mass of the enzyme?
TEACHER's ANSWER:
•   Nitrogenase contains 2 Mo atoms per sub-unit
•   Enzyme is 0.0872% Mo by mass
•   Assume 100g material i.e. 0.0872g Mo
•   n(Mo)=0.0872/95.94 = 9.09 x 10-4 mol Mo
•   n(enzyme)= 9.09 x 10-4/2  = 4.54 x 10-4mol (as 1 enzyme contains 2 molecules)
•   MW(enzyme)= 100g/4.54 x 10-4 mol =2.2 x 105 gmol-1

I understand everything up until the second to last dotpoint. I know that we found 1 mol of Mo. But i thought we had to multiply the 1 mol Mo by 2 because 1 enzyme = 2 Mo
Can you explain why the mol is divided by 2

Offline KungKemi

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Re: Molar mass of enzyme
« Reply #1 on: March 25, 2017, 05:28:52 AM »
Not quite, according to the question, if you have 1 mol of enzyme, then you will have 2 mol of molybdenum.

What if you had 1 mol of molybdenum? Would 2 mols of the enzyme contain this amount (as you are suggesting) or only 0.5 mol enzyme?

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