What are fats in chemistry?
In chemistry and biology, fats are a type of lipid consisting of triesters of glycerol and fatty acids or triglycerides. Because they are organic compounds consisting of carbon and hydrogen atoms, they are generally soluble in organic solvents and largely insoluble in water. Fats are solid at room temperature.
What does it mean that fatty acid chains are hydrophobic?
The fatty acid molecule is a long chain of covalently bonded carbon atoms with nonpolar bonds to hydrogen atoms all along the carbon chain with a carboxyl group attached to one end. Because the carbon-hydrogen bonds are nonpolar, the chain is hydrophobic, meaning they are not water soluble.
What are the 4 components of a fat molecule?
A fat molecule consists of two main components: glycerol and fatty acids. Glycerol is an alcohol with three carbons, five hydrogens, and three hydroxyl (OH) groups. Fatty acids have a long chain of hydrocarbons with a carboxyl group attached and may have 4-36 carbons; however, most of them have 12-18.
What is oil chemistry?
Crude oil is a mixture of comparatively volatile liquid hydrocarbons (compounds composed mainly of hydrogen and carbon), though it also contains some nitrogen, sulfur, and oxygen. Those elements form a large variety of complex molecular structures, some of which cannot be readily identified.
What 3 elements make up fatty acids?
Fatty acids are constructed from the chemical elements carbon, oxygen and hydrogen.
Why are fatty acid tails hydrophobic?
Phospholipids consist of a glycerol molecule, two fatty acids, and a phosphate group that is modified by an alcohol. The fatty acid chains are the uncharged, nonpolar tails, which are hydrophobic. Since the tails are hydrophobic, they face the inside, away from the water and meet in the inner region of the membrane.
Which of the four fatty acids is saturated which are unsaturated?
3: Stearic acid is a common saturated fatty acid. When the hydrocarbon chain contains a double bond, the fatty acid is said to be unsaturated. Oleic acid is an example of an unsaturated fatty acid (Figure 3.3. 4).