Question #72d37

2 Answers

Lipids are organic compounds such as fat or oil.

Explanation:

Organisms uses lipids to store energy. There are two types of lipids,

  • Saturated Fatty Acids

This is used by animals to store fats. The structure of this is that carbon atoms are bonded to as many hydrogen atoms as possible.

  • Unsaturated Fatty Acids

This is used by plants to store energy. Molecules in this lipid are bonded to other group of atoms rather than hydrogen atoms.

http://www.nature.com/horizon/livingfrontier/background/fat.html

Jun 28, 2015

The basic structure of lipids is that they all have a polar head and a nonpolar tail.

Explanation:

Lipids are defined by their solubilities, so they have varying structures, but they all have one thing in common: a polar, hydrophilic "head" and a nonpolar, hydrophobic, hydrocarbon "tail".

Lipids include the following classes.

Fats

Fats are esters of glycerol with long-chain fatty acids.

thepsychologyoffitness.com

The ester groups form the polar head of the molecule.

Phospholipids

In phospholipids, one of the fatty acids has been replaced by a phosphate group and a simple molecule such as choline.

homepage.smc.edu

Sphingolipids

Sphingolipids are based on sphingosine rather than glycerol. Sphingomyelin is a typical example.

chemwiki.ucdavis.edu

Sterols

Sterols have a tetracyclic hydrocarbon ring system with an attached hydrocarbon chain. Cholesterol is a typical example.

www.bioinfo.org.cn

Fat-Soluble Vitamins

Vitamin A (retinol) is a typical example.

static.newworldencyclopedia.org

The OH group is the polar head of the molecule.