The Michaelis-Menten equation uses this approximation because it assumes a constant concentration of the enzyme-substrate complex.
In a laboratory technique based on this assumption, a switching valve is used to suddenly introduce radiolabelled reactants to a reaction chamber under isothermal and isobaric conditions, which is then followed by measurement of the radioactivity of the products. This simplification is central to isotopic transient kinetic analysis. Briggs and Haldane derived a model of enzyme kinetics based on the (*) free-ligand assumption and this simplification, which only applies after the induction time. The Michaelis-Menten equation uses this approximation because it assumes a constant concentration of the enzyme-substrate complex. For 10 points, name this assumption which states that the rates of intermediate reactions are equal in multi-step reactions, which greatly simplifies rate laws.
In a laboratory technique based on this assumption, a switching valve is used to suddenly introduce radiolabelled reactants to a reaction chamber under isothermal and isobaric conditions, which is then followed by measurement of the radioactivity of the products.
steady-state approximation [or: stationary-state approximation, Bodenstein approximation]