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lipids- triglycerides - Coggle Diagram
lipids- triglycerides
structure of fatty acids.
fatty acids have long 'tails, made up of. chain of hydrocarbons with 4-36 carbon atoms
most fatty acid hydrocarbon tails have 12-18 carbon atoms
glycerol links to the central carbon atom on fatty acids
triglycerides
a triglyceride is a type of lipid -mainly used as an energy storage molecule
formed by the condensation of
3 fatty acid
with one
glycerol
ester bonds
- formed between each fatty acid and glycerol.
one water molecule is released per ester bond formed
types of fatty acids
the three fatty acids in the triglyceride may be:
similar
dissimilar
fatty acids may be:
saturated-
single C-C bonds
solid at room temperature.
examples of foods:
creams
cheese
butter
unsaturated
one or more double C-C bonds
liquid at room temperature
double carbon bonds kink the carbon chain so unsaturated fats cannot pack together tightly
functions of triglycerides
responsible for storing energy
lipids contain a lot of energy
carbohydrates contain half the amount of energy per gram as lipids do.
triglycerides in energy release
chemical energy is stored in the fatty acid hydrocarbon tail
so, lots of energy is released when triglycerides are broken down
triglycerides repel water
insoluble in water because fatty acids tails are hydrophobic
this means that the cells water potential is NOT affected by triglycerides
this is important because if triglycerides didn't repel water water would enter through the process of osmosis and the cell would swell up.
Liquid droplets
in cells the triglycerides would round together as droplets because the hydrophobic fatty acid tails face inward