3.4 Speeding Up Digestion

Question 1

What happens in the body to create very acidic conditions in the stomach?

Answer 1

Glands in the stomach wall produce hydrochloric acid

Question 2

What conditions do amylase and lipase work best in in the small intestine?

Answer 2

Slightly alkaline

Question 3

Is bile acidic or alkaline?

Answer 3

Alkaline

Question 4

How does bile help in digestion?

Answer 4

The bile is squirted into the small intestine and neutralises the stomach acid so the conditions are slightly alkaline, perfect for protease and lipase

Question 5

Where is bile produced?

Answer 5

The liver

Question 6

Where is bile stored?

Answer 6

The gall bladder

Question 7

Name 2 ways that bile helps speed up digestion?

Answer 7

• it makes the small intestine alkaline so protease and lipase works well
• it increases the surface area of the food to make the enzymes work better

Question 8

What is activation energy?

Answer 8

The minimum energy required to start a reaction by colliding the molecules together with enough energy

Question 9

How do enzymes speed up a reaction?

Answer 9

They decrease the activation energy so the reaction happens at a greater rate

Question 10

What conditions in the stomach do protease enzymes work best?

Answer 10

Acidic conditions