Ch. 2 homework – Chemistry of Life (Anatomy & Physiology)

Print your name and date submitted:

Create space in the Word document below, and write or type your answers. Turn in your completed work as an email attachment. Check your class emails for the due date.

(10 questions, 100 points possible)

  1. (Table 2.1) lists the main chemical elements in the body.Fill in the missing information in the table below. Each line should have 3 pieces of information. There are 11 lines.

ElementSymbol% of total body mass

Oxygen

H

Sulfur0.25%

Fe

Carbon

N3.2%

Ca

Phosphorus

Na

Mg0.1%

Potassium

  1. (p. 39) Water is the most important inorganic compound in all living systems.

a. What property makes water an excellent solvent in living systems? Elaborate.

b. In a hurry one day, you merely rinse your lunch dishes with water. As you are drying your salad bowl, you notice that it still has an oily film. Why was the water alone not effective in cleaning the bowl? Explain, using the chemical properties of water.

  1. The major categories of organic molecules in your body are (choose the best answer)
  1. Proteins, lipids, water, blood plasma
  2. Carbohydrates, proteins, sugars, saliva
  3. Lipids, proteins, carbohydrates, nucleic acids
  4. Water, blood, saliva, proteins
  1. Sally mixes up a batch of pancake batter, then stirs in some chocolate chips. As she is waiting for the first few pancakes to cook, she notices the chocolate chips sinking to the bottom of the clear glass mixing bowl. The chocolate-chip batter is an example of a
  1. Solvent
  2. Solute
  3. Solution
  4. Suspension
  1. Chewing a bite of bread mixes it with saliva and facilitates its chemical breakdown. This is most likely due to the fact that
  1. The inside of the mouth maintains a very high temperature
  2. Chewing stores potential energy
  3. Chewing facilitates synthesis reactions
  4. Saliva contains enzymes
  1. Jake is three years old and as a result of a “stomach bug” has been vomiting for about 24 hours. His blood pH is 7.48. What does this mean?
  1. His blood is slightly acidic
  2. His blood is slightly alkaline
  3. His blood is highly acidic
  4. His blood is within the normal range
  1. Simple carbohydrates:
  1. Blood sugar is glucose. A way to visualize glucose is to think about corn syrup, which is pretty much pure glucose. (high-fructose corn syrup is a different product). Sketch a molecule of glucose in all its glory. You can find a picture on p. 45 and even better pictures on the Internet. DO A NEAT SKETCH. Your sketch should depict the “structural formula”.
  2. Fruit sugar is fructose. Sketch a molecule of fructose. TAKE PRIDE IN YOUR SKETCHES.
  3. Table sugar is sucrose. This is the sugar in soda pop. Sucrose is actually made up of glucose and fructose bonded together. Carefully sketch a molecule of sucrose.
  1. Starch and cellulose are made up of numerous (billions) of glucose molecules joined together in long chains. Starch is the main carbohydrate in the diet, while cellulose is plant fiber. Do a Google/Internet search on “starch versus cellulose”, and explain the structural difference between these two substances. There is a simple, yet important, chemical difference which explains the properties of each one. Explain & elaborate.
  1. Could you put ground-up paper or wood into food, and market it as “dietary fiber”? Research this – you might be surprised at the answer.
  1. In question #1, you described eleven (11) chemical elements in the body. Choose any one of the eleven; do Internet research and explain how the body obtains that element, and what function that element performs in the body (what does it do, chemically speaking?). Include pictures and diagrams, chemical equations, and any other information which helps explain its source & function in the body. I’m looking for about ½ page of information.