3.2 Digestion

Question 1

What is digestion?

Answer 1

Separating nutrients in food and breaking larger molecules into smaller ones so they can be absorbed.

Question 2

For each of the following molecule, what are they digested into?
Polysaccharides
Triglycerides
Proteins

Answer 2

sugars
fatty acids
amino acids

Question 3

What are the 2 types of digestion?

Answer 3

Mechanical/Physical - Uses physical process such as chewing to break food apart

Chemical - Uses enzymes to alter the chemical structure of nutrients

Question 4

What are enzymes?

Answer 4

A substance that speeds up the rate of reactions by providing a location for chemical reactions to occur

Question 5

What are 2 types of reactions enzymes can participate in?

Answer 5

Hydrolysis: The input of water to break down a molecule

Condensation/ Synthesis: Builds things up.

Question 6

Describe the process of hydrolysis for sucrose

Answer 6

• Sucrose is composed of glucose and fructose
• Sucrose attaches to the enzyme sucrase for digestion
• The input of water breaks down sucrose into its component parts

Question 7

Describe the process of Condensation

Answer 7

Condensation binds molecules such as amino acids into longer chains of molecules, freeing water in the process. This is also the beginning of protein synthesis

Question 8

What are hormones?

Answer 8

Chemical messengers that travel through the blood that are required for physiological processes, including digestion

Question 9

What hormone is released when the small intestine wants to tell the body that it’s full?

Answer 9

CCK, which travels to the brain