The Digestive System Flashcards
What is the digestive system divided into?
The digestive tract and accessory glands
What is the function of the digestive system?
- Turn food into energy
- Package waste
- Physically modify food (in mouth) and chemically (in tract)
- ingestion, absorption, digestion, defecation
What are the accessory organs and what do they do?
Salivary glands, the liver, the gall bladder and the pancreas - they secrete fluids into the tract
What is the digestive tract and what are the regions of it?
A muscular tube extending from mouth to anus
Regions - oral cavity > pharynx > oesophagus > stomach > small intestine > large intestine > rectum/anus
What is the oral cavity for?
Lubricating food, tonsils and salivary glands are accessory organs
What is the pharynx for?
the passageway for air and food
What is the oesophagus for?
Transports food from mouth to stomach (in about 7 seconds)
What is the stomach for?
Churning and digesting food while secreting acids and enzymes
What is the small intestine for?
It is the main site of absorption and consists of all the major accessory organs
What is the large intestine and the rectum for?
The removal of water of salts and the rectum for expulsion
