If you take crystals of the disaccharide lactose the natural substrate for beta-galactosidase and drop them in water, why doesn’t the lactose immediately react with the water and come apart into glucose and galactose?

World of Chemistry, 3rd edition
3rd Edition
ISBN:9781133109655
Author:Steven S. Zumdahl, Susan L. Zumdahl, Donald J. DeCoste
Publisher:Steven S. Zumdahl, Susan L. Zumdahl, Donald J. DeCoste
Chapter21: Biochemistry
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 If you take crystals of the disaccharide lactose the natural substrate for beta-galactosidase and drop them in water, why doesn’t the lactose immediately react with the water and come apart into glucose and galactose?

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