The human body can get energy by metabolizing proteins, carbohydrates or fatty acids, depending on the circumstances. Roughly speaking, the energy it gets comes mostly from allowing all the carbon atoms in the food molecules to become oxidized to carbon dioxide by reaction with oxygen from the atmosphere. Hence the energy content of food is roughly proportional to the carbon content. Let's consider stearic acid, a fatty acid from which fats are made, and fructose, one of the simplest carbohydrates. Using the idea above about energy content, calculate the ratio of the energy the body gets metabolizing each gram of stearic acid to the energy the body gets metabolizing each gram of fructose. Round your answer to the correct number of significant digits.

Question

Chemistry

Paul White

25 May, 10:18

The human body can get energy by metabolizing proteins, carbohydrates or fatty acids, depending on the circumstances. Roughly speaking, the energy it gets comes mostly from allowing all the carbon atoms in the food molecules to become oxidized to carbon dioxide by reaction with oxygen from the atmosphere. Hence the energy content of food is roughly proportional to the carbon content. Let's consider stearic acid, a fatty acid from which fats are made, and fructose, one of the simplest carbohydrates. Using the idea above about energy content, calculate the ratio of the energy the body gets metabolizing each gram of stearic acid to the energy the body gets metabolizing each gram of fructose. Round your answer to the correct number of significant digits.

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Answers (1)

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Ximena Greene · Answer 1

3:1

Explanation:

Stearic acid - C18H36O2

Fructose - C6H12O6

Since the energy content of food is roughly proportional to the carbon content. It means:

C18/C6 = 3 or 3:1

This explains why fats and oil are the major source of energy in the body and not carbohydrates. This is due to Fats and oil having larger amounts of Carbon compared to Carbohydrates.