Food Lab Analysis

1) The positive results for the test included macroscopic changes in each of the samples. Food items that tested positive for lipids left a distinguished translucent smear on the paper that was clearly visible when held in front of a source of light. Sample containing starch turned darker and took on a purple or black hue, clearly distinguish from the samples not containing starch and as a result having no change when the indicator was added. Foods containing simple sugars acquired a dark brown color when heated with the Benedict reagent solution. The test tubes containing a sample that had simple sugars turned darker when compared to their non-sugar comparisons, and were clearly distinguished from their initial observations.

2) The building blocks of large starch molecules formed from complex polypeptide are the smaller monomer building blocks that are made up of glucose - the building blocks of starch and a simple sugar. **picture cannot be inserted**

3) The reasoning behind Thomas's and Josh's intriguing observations may be explained in the starch molecules themselves. The starch molecules in their complex and unbroken forms would get negative in this test because the simple sugars that make up the starch have not yet been isolated into simpler monomers. Once the heat has been added however, the complicated molecules are encouraged to break apart and the simple sugars now exist in the solution. Thus, now that the simple sugars are free and unchained, the sample would then test positive for simple sugars.

4) The digestion of an apple is far more complicated than one would assume. It begins in the mouth where mechanical digestion from the teeth reduces the size of each morsel and increases its surface area. The salivary amylase that exists in saliva begins breaking down the starch that exists in the apple, transforming the complex molecules into maltose. The bolus then moves down the pharynx and into the esophagus through paristaltic contractions through the cardiac sphincter and into the stomach. The HCl in the stomach beings eating away at the apple, and combined with the churning with the stomach turns it into chyme. The chyme moves through the pyloric sphincter and enter thoe duodenum where most of the chemical digestion takes place. The pancreatic amylase produces from the pancreas converts any remaining starch into maltose. The nuclease works on the genetic coding of the apple and turns it into nucleotides. As the chyme makes its way down further the duodenum, the small intestine juice containing nucleosidase and maltase converts the nucleotides and maltose into sugar phosphate and base, and glucose respectively. The chyme continues its wy through the small intestine where the nutrients are absorbed, and through the large intestine where most of the water is absorbed. It then enters the rectum and exits through the anus as feces.

Water Illusion

The following thesis disproves the allegations implied by the attached link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7ctaA2mERzI&feature=player_embedded



     In response to the seemingly preposterous assertion made by the author in the above video, science clearly has an answer. Based on the already known physical and chemical properties of water (H20) it is evident that the current knowledge of its cohesive nature and its ability to induce surface tensions through the hydrogen bonds between each water molecule, such a feat could not be possible in the realms of the known universe. Despite possessing the ability for water molecules to attract one another through hydrogen bonds, this force is negligible when dealing with such volume. Although hydrogen bonds do provide and incentive for water molecules to clump together, this force cannot compete with the other forces demanding it abandon its current shape, the most prevalent being the force of gravity. The force induced by the twisting of the glass also encourages the water to desert its upright form, and instead come tumbling down succumbing to the force of gravity. In short, despite each water molecule possessing a noticeable cohesive force attracting itself to other water molecules, the force of gravity involved in the above volume and shape far exceeds it.  

-Rawel Sidhu & Michael Panderla