Chapter 39.3, Problem 2R

Summary Introduction

To review:

A curve of ${\text{Q}}_{\text{10}}=\text{2}\text{.5}$ for a physiological activity.

Introduction:

Most of the organisms survive in a narrow temperature range because enzymes do not work in extreme temperatures. The sensitivity to the temperature can be defined in terms of Q₁₀, which can be estimated as follows:

${\text{Q}}_{\text{10}}=\frac{{\text{R}}_{\text{T}}}{{\text{R}}_{\text{T-10}}}$

In the above equation, ${\text{R}}_{\text{T}}$ is the temperature at which the rate of reaction takes place and ${\text{R}}_{\text{T}}{}_{-\text{10}}$ is the temperature 10°C lower than the temperature at which the same reaction has taken place.