|
A Closer Look: Where Does the "Weight" Go?
Is burning a candle a good analogy for what happens to food inside the
body? During the video, Robin and Sallie, our hosts, burned a “cheese” candle
as a possible model for what happens to food inside our bodies. Although
it is true that food is essentially the fuel for our bodies, the process
by which we extract energy from it is different than the process by which
a candle burns.
"Cheese" candle.
When a wax candle is burning, its particles, made mostly
of carbon and hydrogen atoms, combine with oxygen in the air to produce
carbon dioxide
and water vapor. In addition, some energy is released in the form of
heat. (We’ll learn more about heat in Session 7.)
However, our bodies do not “burn” particles of food in a single
reaction like the burning candle). Instead, a series of reactions takes
place during which the result of one reaction becomes the input to the
next. Food is broken down into simple sugars made mostly of carbon, nitrogen,
oxygen, and hydrogen molecules that are then combined with the oxygen we
breathe. Along the way, other molecules (called enzymes) help the reactions
occur.
|
prev:
are all atoms the same?
