Some claim that the pH of your blood can be affected by eating acidic foods such as citrus. Do you believe this to be true? Explain your answer. (Hint: What happens when extra hydrogen ions are added to the blood?)

Explain how buffer systems in the body work if the pH of body fluids increases. Is this an example of a negative or a positive feedback loop? Explain.

In certain types of radioactive decay, the isotope releases a particle called an alpha particle, which contains two protons and two neutrons. When this happens, is the product still the same element? Why or why not?

Considering that water is a main component of the juices in the stomach and intestines, explain why digestion of lipids is more complicated than digestion of carbohydrates and proteins.

Explain why monosaccharides are polar and fatty acids are nonpolar even though they both contain the same atoms.

The polysaccharide cellulose is not digestible by humans, as we lack the enzyme cellulase, which is required to break it down. Certain dietary supplements contain the enzyme cellulase and claim that being able to break down cellulose will help a person lose weight. But what do you think would happen if we could digest the cellulose we ate?