A substance that speeds up a chemical reaction but is not consumed
or altered in the process. Catalysts are of immense importance in chemistry and
biology.
A ll enzymes are catalysts that expedite the biochemical reactions necessary
for life. The enzymes in saliva, for example, accelerate the conversion of starch
to glucose, doing in minutes what would otherwise take weeks.
The word "catalyst" was introduced into science by the great Swedish chemist
Jons Jakob Berzelius (1779-1848) who also determined the atomic and molecular weights
of thousands of substances, discovered several elements including selenium, first
isolated silicon and titanium, and created the present system of writing chemical
symbols and reactions.
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