Question

Find out distance travelled by the food during complete digestion.

Answer 1

·         The alimentary canal or the digestive tract is 9 meters from the esophagus to the anus.

·         Digestion begins at the mouth; food is chewed and mixed with saliva that contains the enzyme amylase to help break down food.

·         The tongue molds the food into a ball mass, known as the bolus.

·         The bolus goes down the esophagus, enters the stomach. Stomach secrets acidic juices that help to digest food.

·         After digestion, food in solid state becomes liquid called chyme.

·         The chyme goes into the small intestine where most of the digestion takes place. It further broken down to simple state. At this stage, nutrients are absorbed by our body.

·         Substances that cannot be broken down by our body pass through the large intestine or the colon.

·         The last process is reabsorbing the water, ions, and salts and the remaining solid material, called feces, exits through the anus.

·         Thus, the alimentary canal serves as a passageway for food to be transported, absorbed, and released.