How do lipids differ from other macromolecules?
2 Answers
They consist of long chains of C, H, and O.
Explanation:
In terms of chemical composition, lipids differ from nucleic acids and proteins because they mostly just contain carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen (except for phospholipids which of course contain phosphorous). In addition to those elements, proteins contain nitrogen and sulfur, and nucleic acids contain nitrogen and phosphorous.
Carbohydrates share the C, H, and O composition as lipids, but they differ in structure. Lipids are generally exist as triglycerides, which consist of a triple hydroxyl alcohol (glycerol) that has bonded to three long-chain carboxylic acids (fatty acids) in a triple condensation reaction. Carbohydrates on the other hand are made of carbon ring structures that either remain alone or polymerize into long polysaccharide chains.
Lipds and fats aren't polymers - whereas most of the other macromolecules are polymers.
Explanation:
The main difference is that most other macromolecules are polymers made up of monomers (Protein is made of amino acids, polysaccharides are made of monosaccharides, DNA/RNA is made of nucleotides), but fats are not polymers. They don't form polyermic large molecules. A triglyceride fat is made up of different components, but the triglyceride doesn't form the basis for a larger molecule
