Lipids Flashcards
lipids are composed of
- C,O,H
- long hydrocarbon chains
what are the 4 lipid family groups?
- fats and oils
- phospholipids
- steroids
- waxes
lipids are…
- big molecules made of smaller subunits and don’t form polymers
- not a repeating chain
structure of fats and oils
- glycerol + fatty acid
- fatty acid has long hydrocarbon tail and carboxyl head
whats a triglyceride?
- 3 fatty acids linked to glycerol
- ester linkage between OH and COOH
how do 3 fatty acids link to the glycerol?
covalent bond
long hydrocarbon chain:
polar or nonpolar?
hydrophilic or hydrophobic?
nonpolar
hydrophobic
function of fats?
- store energy: C-C and C-H bonds, 2x more than carbs
- cushions organs
- insulates body
what are saturated fats?
- all C are bonded to max number of H
- NO C double bonded to C, only single bonds
- long chain
- mostly animal fats, solid at room temp
what are unsaturated fats?
- C double bonded to C in fatty acids
- plant and fish fats
- veggie oils and liquid at room temp
- kinks made by double bonds prevent molecules being packed tightly together
monounsaturated?
one double bond
polyunsaturated?
more than one double bond
structure of phospholipids?
- glycerol + 2 fatty acids + PO4
- PO4 negatively charged
phospholipids: hydrophobic or hydrophilic?
- fatty acid tails= hydrophobic
- PO4 head= hydrophilic
phospholipids in water?
- hydrophilic heads are attracted to the water
- hydrophobic tails hide from the water
- can assemble into bubbles called micelle
- can form a bilayer
- create barrier in water
- make cell membranes
soap is..?
amphipathic - means it interacts with NP and P
structure of steroids?
- 4 fused carbon rings + ??
- different functional groups are attached to carbon rings to create different steroids
- diff structure creates different function
- example; cholesterol, sex hormones
why is cholesterol an important cell component?
- animal cell membranes
- precursor of all other steroids
- high levels in blood may cause heart problems /disease
- helps keep cell membranes fluid and flexible
