Table of Contents Chapter 9: It’s Alimentary |
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Chapter ChallengeIn this chapter you are challenged to learn the chemistry involved in the digestion of food as it passes down the alimentary canal. You will demonstrate your understanding in a skit depicting the perils you would encounter in a trip down the alimentary canal, assuming you had become one-billionth of your current size. The vehicles you ride in this futuristic theme park called Anatomy World must be a portion of food from a recently ingested meal. Most of the chemical substances that you encounter will be much larger than they are in this “nano-world.” In order to survive you will have to understand chemistry at its molecular level, instead of observing only what you can see and manipulate in the “macro-world” of a chemistry laboratory. |
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Activity Summaries |
Chemistry Principles |
Activity 1: The Upper End of the Alimentary Canal The effect of salivary amylase is examined in the mouth and in the test tube. Tests for both starch and sugars are conducted on matzo crackers that have been hydrolyzed. Rate of reaction is studied. |
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Activity 2: Antacids in the Stomach The purpose of antacids is examined. Are all antacids the same? A comparison of standard antacids’ neutralizing capacity is performed. The nature of a new acid-base indicator is explored in these titrations. Heartburn and acid indigestion are compared.
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Activity 3: Studying Carbon Dioxide How can carbon dioxide be identified? A bottle of carbonated beverage is degassed and the volume measured. The volume is studied at three different temperatures. The need for an absolute temperature scale is developed and Charles’ Law is introduced. |
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Activity 4: Observing Real Food in Artificial Stomachs Four foods are subjected to differing conditions in artificial “stomachs” with the goal of finding out the optimum set of conditions needed to digest food in the stomach. Evidence for the type of food that can be digested in the stomach is also collected. |
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Activity 5: Gas Pressure The relationship between pressure and temperature is experimentally determined by monitoring the pressure generated by carbon dioxide being produced from reaction of an effervescent antacid tablet and water. Quantitative methods are developed to calculate volume, pressure, and temperature using Gay-Lussac’s Law and Charles’ Law. The fundamental principles of the Kinetic-Molecular theory of gases is examined. |
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Activity 6: Size of Molecules A scale will be developed for common biochemical molecules assuming they could be enlarged from their nano-world size into the macro-world. |
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Activity 7: Hydrolysis of Lactose The cause and treatment for lactose intolerance will be studied. The fate of certain monsaccharides and disaccharides in the presence of lactase will be explored. |
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