It says here that fiber is any complex carbohydrate for which the body does not have enzymes to break down. Starches, on the other hand, are large carbohydrates the body can break down using the enzyme amylase. Freddo drinks 500 milliliters of water with 10 grams of powdered fiber mixed in and Sabina drinks 500 milliliters of water with 10 grams of powdered starch mixed in. Based on just this information, say whether you think Freddo or Sabina will perform more of each particular function listed below. We want to write a less than, greater than, or equal sign between Freddo and Sabina's names to indicate the answer, and then the first answer has been filled in for you. So our first one here says ingestion, and well, it says here that they both take in 500 milliliters of water with either 10 grams of starch or fiber mixed in. So we can see here that they're doing the same amount of ingestion because ingestion is just taking food into your mouth, basically. Alright, so from there, let's move on.
Propulsion. Who do you think is going to do more propulsion, Freddo or Sabina, or will it be equal? Alright. My first instinct is that it should be equal because they're taking in the same amount of food, and propulsion means to move this stuff through the alimentary canal through your digestive tract. But as I think of some other thing these things going on, I might actually want to change that answer. So I'm actually going to hold off on propulsion right now, and we're going to come back to it at the end.
Mechanical digestion. Who do you think will do more, Freddo or Sabina, or will it be equal? Well, mechanical digestion is sort of physically breaking food down into smaller pieces. And here, they're both drinking water with a powder mixed in, so they don't really have to do much mechanical digestion at all. So I think this should be equal. I'm going to put an equal sign there.
What about chemical digestion? Well, chemical digestion is using enzymes or acids to break down these molecules in the food, but we defined fiber as not being able to be broken down, and we define starch as being able to be broken down. So that means that Freddo, with the fiber, can't digest his food using chemical digestion, and Sabina can. So Sabina is going to do more chemical digestion than Freddo.
Well, that leads us to absorption. Who's going to do more, Freddo or Sabina? Oh, you can't absorb the nutrients unless they are broken down into small molecules that can be absorbed into the blood. And fiber and starch are too big to be absorbed, so because Freddo can't digest his food, it can't be absorbed. Starch can be broken down into simple sugars, so it can be absorbed. So therefore, Sabina is definitely going to do more absorption.
Defecation. Remember, defecation is just pooping. So who here do you think is going to do more of that? Well, right away the fiber. And fiber is actually sold as a supplement to help with things like constipation because if you can't break it down, if you can't absorb it, it means that it just has to pass all the way through that alimentary canal and out the other end by way of defecation. So Freddo's going to have basically everything he took in, except for the water, he's going to defecate out. Sabina, she can absorb all of that starch once it's broken down. So based just on this, there isn't really anything that has to pass out of her alimentary canal. So who's going to do more defecation? Freddo.
Alright. That takes us back to propulsion. Well, now that I think about that. Right? If Sabina's really absorbing everything that she takes in and Freddo can't absorb the fiber, well, that fiber has to move through the alimentary canal. And that's what propulsion means, to move this food through the alimentary canal. So because it has to move farther, it has to make it all the way to the other end. For Freddo, I think that he actually does more propulsion.
Alright. That looks like we worked it all out. We got more practice after this. I'll see you there.