Question

As food travels through the digestive system it is exposed to a variety of pH levels. The stomach has a pH of 2 due to the presence of Hydrochloride acid and the smallest intestine has a pH ranging from 7 to 9. HCI converts pepsinogen into pepsin an enzyme that digests proteins in the stomach. Which of the following most likely happens to pepsin as it enters the small intestine.

The pepsin begins to replicate
The pepsin’s activity increases to digest more proteins
The pepsin becomes inactive
The pepsin’s shape changes to engulf large proteins

Answer 1

C, It becomes inactive

Step-by-step explanation:

Enzymes have an ideal pH, at which they best function. Many enzymes cannot function

at all outside their ideal pH range. Pepsin functions best in the extreme acid

environment of the stomach and will, therefore cease to function in the much higher pH

of the small intestine.

Answer 2

The answer is C. Pepsin becomes inactive as soon as it reaches small intestine.

Step-by-step explanation:

Enzymes are pH specific. They once work at those specific values and if those are changed they either degrade or become inactive. The pH of stomach is acidic and that of the small intestine is basic. Therefore the enzymes will become inactive when it enters small intestine.