[Zoloft]

Hey all, I've just registered, on the need to obtain help on my homework.

I'd appreciate any help given, thanks.

The question:
"the breakdown of starch is often catalyzed at very high temperatures (100C).  WHy is the high temperature needed?"
I need to explain this on details....but I dont' know where to start.

Something more political:
"In the United Staes, the use of high-fructose syrup dramatically increased after the take-over by the communist regime in Cuba. How can the two events be related?"

Thanks, once again, for any help.

[Borek]

Start listing what you know and what you think (see forum rules).

[Zoloft]

I know that it's caused by a maltose. Then an Amylose? An enzyme --->H₃O⁺-->Glucose

[Donaldson Tan]

"the breakdown of starch is often catalyzed at very high temperatures (100C).

I know that it's caused by a maltose. 

At high temperature, enzymes denature.

How do starch breakdown in the absence of functional enzymes?

Your problem has something to do with overcoming the activation energy and heat.

[Yggdrasil]

From a thermodynamic point of view, high temperatures favor transformations which increase entropy (?G = ?H - T?S, therefore when when ?S > 0, increasing T makes ?G more negative, and negative ?G's are favorable).  Since breaking down a large polymer into small monomers increases entropy (i.e. ?S > 0), this process is favored by increased tempetrature.

[Donaldson Tan]

In another words, if you raise the temperature of the reactant, the population of reactant molecules with sufficient energy to overcome the activation energy barrier will increase.