Spice of Life Test #1 Review Topics
Fall, 2013
A. Be able to answer any of the worksheet questions … correctly.
B. Also be able to answer/do the following:
The Scientific Process:
1. Be able to discuss several different sources of bias, and how they can effect
your observations.
2. Be able to define dependent and independent variables, standardized
variables and controls, and to discuss the importance of always performing
multiple trials when conducting scientific experiments.
3. Be able to critique a poorly designed experiment, should you see one.
The Chemistry, Physics and Biology of Food
1. Be able to calculate atomic number, atomic weight, the total number of
protons and electrons in an atom and the total number of electrons in an
atom’s outer shell, given the data in the periodic table of elements.
2. Be able to predict if two atoms are more likely to form an ionic or a covalent
bond (and how many electrons will be exchanged or shared in the process).
3. Be able to discuss the role of hydrogen bonds in food structure.
4. Define the following terms and be able to give a specific example of a role
that each of them played in something we have already cooked or mixed in
lab this semester:
a. chemical reaction;
b. kinetic energy;
c. temperature;
d. latent heat;
e. specific heat;
f. suspension;
g. emulsion,
h. gel
i. foam
j. standing wave
k. emulsifier
5. Be able to tell how microwaves cook food (how they turn electromagnetic
radiation into kinetic energy), and why it is incorrect to say that microwaves
cook food from the inside out.
6. Be able to describe how a red-hot heating element cooks food (how it turns
electromagnetic radiation into kinetic energy).
7. Be able to differentiate between fats and oils
8. Be able to differentiate between saturated and unsaturated fats
9. Give an example of a Non-Newtonian fluid and explain what makes it NonNewtonian.
10. How, chemically speaking, did the egg whites make a foam in your meringue
cookies?
11. What is meant when we say a protein is ‘denatured’? List three ways in
which proteins can be denatured in the kitchen.
12. Be able to differentiate between these different structures should you see
them:
a. Monosaccharide
b. Disaccharide
c. unsaturated and saturated fats
d. between cis and trans fats.
e. Amino acids
13. Be able to discuss three distinct reasons, with examples, that fermented food
can be better for us than raw food.
14. What are the two microbial components in a sourdough starter?
15. Why does sourdough bread taste and smell different from plain yeast bread?
16. What is gluten and how does it form?
17. Be able to discuss how kneading, starch, water, gluten, fermentation and
cooking all contribute to the foam structure of bread.
18. What is coevolution? Be able to give at least one example of coevolution.
19. What is endosymbiosis? How did aerobic and photosynthetic cells arise via
endosymbiosis?
20. You have a friend who is constantly washing her hands with antibacterial
soaps and gels because she does not want any bacteria on her hands. What
advice do you give to her?
The Science of Flavor
1. Be able to discuss how all of the senses contribute to our perception of food
quality/palatability. Be able to give specific examples of each.
2. What are the five tastes, and what chemical molecules cause each one?
3. Be able to describe how taste works. Specifically, in what structures do the
various taste chemicals find their receptors, and how does the interaction of
the chemical with that receptor cause a nerve impulse to be sent to the brain?
4. How do odorant receptors work?
5. What is an odorant and how does it contribute to taste?
6. How do odorants change when they are heated?
7. How (in some detail) do members of the onion family cause irritation, and
how does heating the onion impact this process?
8. How do chili peppers cause pain?
9. What is astringency, and what food molecules cause it?
10. Why do plants make astringent, irritant and painful molecules?
11. What types of non-sensory criteria impact our perception of food? Give some
specific examples.
12. Why are there taste receptors in our digestive tract? How do they work?
13. Why are there taste receptors in our airways? How do they work?
14. Describe the roles that TAS2538 and Gustin may play in obesity.
15. What are supertasters, and why don’t they tend to like broccoli?
The Science of Cooking
1. Be able to define heat flow, conduction, convection and radiation, and to
discuss how these processes are involved in baking, boiling, steaming, and
microwaving.
2. What is carmelization?
3. What is the Maillard reaction?
4. Be able to discuss the biological structure of eggs, and to tell how specific
temperatures transform the proteins and other chemicals in the egg whites
and yolks.
5. Why do cooked eggs smell like sulfur and sometimes get green?
6. Be able to calculate the amount of time needed to cook the perfect 1) softboiled or 2) hard-boiled egg, given an initial egg size and room temperature
(I will provide the formula).
7. Be able to convert back and forth between temperatures in °F and °C (you
must know the formula).
8. Why, chemically speaking, did cooking your cheesecakes slowly in a water
bath help keep the cheesecake soft and moist?
9. Why, in terms of heat transfer, did the cheesecakes in dark muffin tins cook
faster than those in shiny tins?
10. Why, in terms of radiant heat, did the cheesecakes in smaller ovens cook
faster than those in larger ovens?