Your Friend Is Trying to Learn About How to Kill

question 81

Multiple Choice

Your friend is trying to learn about how to kill bacteria. She reads that preservatives such as citric acid are added to foods because the acidic environment kills bacteria by denaturing their proteins. She thinks this sounds like a lot of scientific jargon and asks you what it means. How can you explain it in simpler terms?

• A) Denaturing their proteins means that the proteins in bacteria are converted into carbohydrates.
• B) Denaturing refers to the fact that the bacterial cells divide too quickly and die.
• C) Denaturing means that the proteins of the bacteria lose their structure and can't function, so the bacteria die.
• D) The acid causes the cells to swell and burst open, also known as denaturation.

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Definitions:

Larynx

The organ in the throat involved in breathing, sound production, and protecting the trachea against food aspiration; also known as the voice box.

Vocal Cords

Folded membranes within the larynx that produce sound when air is expelled from the lungs, causing them to vibrate.

Pharynx

A muscular tube that connects the mouth and nasal cavity to the esophagus and larynx, serving both respiratory and digestive functions in vertebrates.

Throat Region

The anterior part of the neck, through which food and air pass to the esophagus and trachea respectively.