CoStudyexam prep that shows its work
Open the study app

All certifications →Educational banks →

Home › Certifications › High school subjects › HS Anatomy & Physiology › Digestive System and Nutrition

Digestive System and Nutrition — HS Anatomy & Physiology practice questions

11 multiple-choice questions and 12 flashcards on Digestive System and Nutrition, about 7% of the HS Anatomy & Physiology bank. Every one carries a written rationale.

Written and maintained by the CoStudy team · last updated 2026-10-02 · how we write and review questions

What this chapter covers

Digestive System and Nutrition is one of 13 chapters in CoStudy's HS Anatomy & Physiology bank, and it holds 11 of the bank's 150 multiple-choice questions — roughly 7% of the total. That proportion is not arbitrary: chapters follow the certifying body's published exam outline, and the number of questions in each is set by that domain's published weight, so the share of your practice time this chapter takes matches the share of the real exam it accounts for.

Studying by chapter is worth doing once you have a diagnostic score. A single overall percentage tells you whether you are close; it does not tell you which domain is dragging. Working a weak chapter in isolation, and re-testing it in isolation, is the fastest way to move a score that has stalled — and it is why the mock exams in CoStudy report by domain rather than as one number.

Free Digestive System and Nutrition practice questions

6 questions drawn from this chapter, with the full rationale shown — the controlling principle behind the right answer, and why each wrong option tempts and fails.

Villi in the small intestine:

  1. make and release bile into the intestine
  2. increase the surface area for absorption
  3. grind food into smaller pieces mechanically
  4. store waste until it is eliminated

Answer: B — increase the surface area for absorption

B) Correct — Finger-like folds, with microvilli, multiply the area many times. A) The liver makes bile. C) The stomach and teeth do this. D) The rectum stores waste.

The pancreas releases bicarbonate into the small intestine to:

  1. digest proteins directly
  2. emulsify fats
  3. neutralize stomach acid
  4. absorb water

Answer: C — neutralize stomach acid

C) Correct — Intestinal enzymes work best near neutral pH. A) Trypsin and other enzymes do this. B) Bile does this. D) The large intestine does most of this.

Chemical digestion of starch begins in the:

  1. stomach, with pepsin
  2. small intestine, with bile
  3. large intestine, with bacteria
  4. mouth, with salivary amylase

Answer: D — mouth, with salivary amylase

D) Correct — Amylase starts breaking starch into sugars. A) Pepsin digests protein. B) Bile emulsifies fat. C) Starch digestion begins much earlier.

Protein digestion begins in the stomach with:

  1. amylase and saliva
  2. pepsin and stomach acid
  3. lipase and bile
  4. trypsin and bicarbonate

Answer: B — pepsin and stomach acid

B) Correct — HCl unfolds proteins and activates pepsin. A) Digest starch, starting in the mouth. C) Digest and emulsify fat. D) Come from the pancreas and act in the small intestine.

Proteins are broken down into:

  1. simple sugars
  2. fatty acids and glycerol
  3. amino acids
  4. nucleotides

Answer: C — amino acids

C) Correct — Carbohydrates become simple sugars; fats become fatty acids and glycerol. A) Come from carbohydrates. B) Come from fats. D) Come from nucleic acids.

Bile is made by the ___ and stored by the ___.

  1. gallbladder; liver
  2. pancreas; liver
  3. liver; gallbladder
  4. stomach; gallbladder

Answer: C — liver; gallbladder

C) Correct — The gallbladder releases bile into the small intestine. A) Reverses the roles. B) The pancreas makes enzymes and bicarbonate. D) The stomach makes acid and pepsin.

Digestive System and Nutrition flashcards

3 cards from the 12 in this chapter.

Interactive digestive system — hover any organ.

The digestive system breaks food into absorbable nutrients. Alimentary canal (food passes through): mouth → esophagus → stomach → small intestine (duodenum, jejunum, ileum) → large intestine → rectum → anus. Accessory organs (aid digestion but food doesn't pass through): salivary glands, liver, gallbladder, pancreas. Total length ~9 meters (30 feet) in an adult.

Small intestine sections?

Duodenum, jejunum, ileum. Most digestion + absorption happens here.

Pancreas digestive role?

Releases enzymes (amylase, lipase, proteases) to small intestine. Also bicarbonate to neutralize stomach acid.

Practise the full chapter

These are a sample. The full Digestive System and Nutrition chapter runs 23 items with per-chapter progress tracking, on the web and in the iOS app.

Open HS Anatomy & Physiology in CoStudy →

Other HS Anatomy & Physiology chapters

All HS Anatomy & Physiology practice questions →