Why are they able to increase the amount of clothes that they clean every day?
Some bacteria, called thermophilic bacteria live in hot springs at temperatures of 80°C.
Scientists have extracted enzymes from these thermophilic bacteria. These enzymes are being trailed in industrial laundries.
The laundries expect to increase the amount of clothes they can clean using thermophilic bacteria instead of the biological washing powders the laundries use now.
If a bit of context is needed here was the previous question.
They enzymes in biological washing powders do not work on the stains at temperatures above 45 °C.
Some bacteria, called thermophilic bacteria live in hot springs at temperatures of 80°C.
Scientists have extracted enzymes from these thermophilic bacteria. These enzymes are being trailed in industrial laundries.
The laundries expect to increase the amount of clothes they can clean using thermophilic bacteria instead of the biological washing powders the laundries use now.
If a bit of context is needed here was the previous question.
They enzymes in biological washing powders do not work on the stains at temperatures above 45 °C.
1 Answer
At higher temperatures chemical reactions proceed more quickly.
Explanation:
The manufacturers of washing powders want the facility to use higher temperatures to get chemical reactions (stain removal, dissolution of grease etc.) to work faster, but these elevated temperatures the enzymes they traditionally use become denatured (their configuration is altered as some of the bonds holding the proteins in shape are very weak London dispersion forces. If their shape alters their activity drops off to near zero.)
Thus using more heat tolerant enzymes present in thermophiles allows them to perform the reaction(s) at higher temperatures so more quickly, so they get more clothes washed and earn more profit.
