Spice of Life Test #1 Review Topics

Fall, 2012

A. Be able to answer any of the worksheet questions … correctly.

B. Also be able to answer/do the following:

The Scientific Process:

  1. Be able to discuss several different sources of bias, and how they can effect your observations.
  2. Be able to define dependent and independent variables, standardized variables and controls, and to discuss the importance of always performing multiple trials when conducting scientific experiments.
  3. Be able to critique a poorly designed experiment, should you see one.

The Chemistry, Physics and Biology of Food

  1. Be able to calculate atomic number, atomic weight, the total number of protons and electrons in an atom and the total number of electrons in an atom’s outer shell, given the data in the periodic table of elements.
  2. Be able to predict if two atoms are more likely to form an ionic or a covalent bond (and how many electrons will be exchanged or shared in the process).
  3. Be able to discuss the role of hydrogen bonds in food structure.
  4. Define the following terms and be able to give a specific example of a role that each of them played in something we have already cooked or mixed in lab this semester:
  5. chemical reaction;
  6. kinetic energy;
  7. temperature;
  8. latent heat;
  9. specific heat;
  10. suspension;
  11. emulsion,
  12. gel
  13. foam
  14. standing wave
  15. emulsifier
  1. Be able to tell how microwaves cook food (how they turn electromagnetic radiation into kinetic energy), and why it is incorrect to say that microwaves cook food from the inside out.
  2. Be able to describe how a red-hot heating element cooks food (how it turns electromagnetic radiation into kinetic energy).
  3. Be able to differentiate between fats and oils
  4. Be able to differentiate between saturated and unsaturated fats
  5. Give an example of a Non-Newtonian fluid and explain what makes it Non-Newtonian.
  6. How, chemically speaking, did the egg whites make a foam in your meringue cookies?
  7. What is meant when we say a protein is ‘denatured’? List three ways in which proteins can be denatured in the kitchen.
  8. Be able to differentiate between these different structures should you see them:
  9. Monosaccharide
  10. Disaccharide
  11. unsaturated and saturated fats
  12. between cis and trans fats.
  13. Amino acids
  14. Be able to discuss three distinct reasons, with examples, that fermented food can be better for us than raw food.
  15. What is a SCOBY? How do the microbes in a SCOBY transform tea into kombucha? Be able to show how (and by whom) sugars are fermented into alcohol and then into acetic acid. Also be able to give a few (2-3) other specific microbial products that can add to the flavor of kombucha.
  16. What is a biofilm? Be able to give two examples of biofilms, and to tell how they form.
  17. Why do microbes form biofilms? (What is the evolutionary advantage?)
  18. What is coevolution? Be able to give at least one example of coevolution.
  19. What is endosymbiosis? How did aerobic and photosynthetic cells arise via endosymbiosis?
  20. You have a friend who is constantly washing her hands with antibacterial soaps and gels because she does not want any bacteria on her hands. What advice do you give to her?

The Science of Flavor

  1. Be able to discuss how all of the senses contribute to our perception of food quality/palatability. Be able to give specific examples of each.
  2. What are the five tastes, and what chemical molecules cause each one?
  3. Be able to describe how taste works. Specifically, in what structures do the various taste chemicals find their receptors, and how does the interaction of the chemical with that receptor cause a nerve impulse to be sent to the brain?
  4. How do odorant receptors work?
  5. What is an odorant and how does it contribute to taste?
  6. How do odorants change when they are heated?
  7. How (in some detail) do members of the onion family cause irritation, and how does heating the onion impact this process?
  8. How do chili peppers cause pain?
  9. What is astringency, and what food molecules cause it?
  10. Why do plants make astringent, irritant and painful molecules?
  11. What types of non-sensory criteria impact our perception of food? Give some specific examples.
  12. Why are there taste receptors in our digestive tract? How do they work?
  13. Why are there taste receptors in our airways? How do they work?
  14. Describe the roles that TAS2538 and Gustin may play in obesity.
  15. What are supertasters, and why don’t they tend to like broccoli?

The Science of Cooking

  1. Be able to define heat flow, conduction, convection and radiation, and to discuss how these processes are involved in baking, boiling, steaming, and microwaving.
  2. What is carmelization?
  3. What is the Maillard reaction?
  4. Be able to discuss the biological structure of eggs, and to tell how specific temperatures transform the proteins and other chemicals in the egg whites and yolks.
  5. Why do cooked eggs smell like sulfur and sometimes get green?
  6. Be able to calculate the amount of time needed to cook the perfect 1) soft-boiled or 2) hard-boiled egg, given an initial egg size and room temperature (I will provide the formula).
  7. Be able to convert back and forth between temperatures in °F and °C (you must know the formula).
  8. Why, chemically speaking, did cooking your cheesecakes slowly in a water bath help keep the cheesecake soft and moist?
  9. Why, in terms of heat transfer, did the cheesecakes in dark muffin tins cook faster than those in shiny tins?
  10. Why, in terms of radiant heat, did the cheesecakes in smaller ovens cook faster than those in larger ovens?