Digestion
How long is the small intestine?
20-21 feet long
How long is the large intestine?
5 feet long, but it is large in diameter
What is a helper organ?
A helper organ is an organ that is important to digestion, but the food does NOT travel through there.
Large Intestine
Absorbs water
Stomach
Acid & muscle break down food even more
Liver makes what?
Bile
Small intestine does what?
Breaks down food (Chemical digestion) and villi absorb nutrients
What are the three functions of the digestive system?
Digest, absorb, eliminate
What is digestion?
Digestion is the process by which your body breaks down food into small nutrient molecules.
A protein that speeds up chemical reactions in the body is an ___.
Enzyme
The pancreas makes what?
Enzymes/Insulin
What are the helper organs?
Gall bladder Liver Pancreas
Explain the difference between mechanical digestion and chemical digestion.
In mechanical digestion, bites of food are torn or ground into smaller pieces; this kind of digestion happens mostly in the mouth and stomach. In chemical digestion, chemicals break down foods into their building blocks; chemical digestion takes place in many parts of the digestive system.
What makes the large intestine large?
It's diameter
Where does absorption take place?
Large Intestine Small Intestine
The esophagus is really just a ____ tube.
Long
Liver
Makes bile to break up fat particles
What is mechanical digestion?
Mechanical digestion is when bites of food are torn or ground into smaller pieces.
What organs does food pass through in the digestion system?
Mouth Esophagus Stomach Small intestine Large Intestine Rectum Anus
Where does mechanical digestion take place?
Mouth Stomach
Where does chemical digestion take place?
Mouth Stomach Small Intestine
Where does digestion take place?
Mouth Stomach Small Intestine
What is the stomach?
The stomach is a j-shaped muscular pouch in the abdomen
Saliva does what?
moistens food and digests starches into sugar (chemical digestion)
What causes diarrhea?
waste moves too quickly through the small intestine and too little water is absorbed
What causes constipation?
waste moves too slowly through the large intestine and too much water is absorbed
What is the esophagus lined with and how does it help?
Mucus, and it makes food slide down the esophagus easily.
The stomach has many layers of _____
Muscle
Esophagus
Muscular tube that connects the mouth to the stomach.
What is peristalsis?
Peristalsis are the waves of involuntary muscle contractions that push food towards the stomach.
Pancreas
Produces digestive enzymes that break down carbs, proteins, & fats
Where does elimination take place?
Rectum Anus
What is elimination?
Removal of waste.
Villi
Small fingerlike structures that line small intestine. Greatly increase the surface area of the small intestine so that more nutrients can be absorbed.
Why is the small intestine so long?
So the food has more chance for absorption
Where is the body's mechanical digestion completed?
Stomach
The epiglottis _____ food from going down to the ____.
Stops, Lungs
Gallbladder
Storage for bile
The gall bladder does what?
Stores bile
Bile
Substance that breaks up fat particles
Your mouth has 3 things:
Teeth Tongue Saliva
Mouth
Teeth grind and tear food (mechanical digestion)
Epiglottis
The epiglottis is a flap of tissue that seals off your windpipe and prevents food from entering the lungs.
What is absorption?
The process by which nutrient molecules pass into your blood through the wall of your digestive system.
What is chemical digestion?
The use of fluids to dissolve foods into nutrients.
What is mucus?
Thick and slippery substance produced by body. Makes food move easily.
Rectum
Waste in compressed into solid form & stored
Anus
Waste material is eliminated