What is the difference between a saturated and unsaturated fat?
Why are partially hydrogenated fats useful when making potato chips, but not particularly healthy for humans to eat?
Why are partially hydrogenated fats useful when making potato chips, but not particularly healthy for humans to eat?
1 Answer
Saturated fats have the maximum number of hydrogens possible, while unsaturated fats have a double bond between two of the carbons.
Explanation:
Every carbon wants to have four bonds.
In saturated fats, each carbon has four hydrogens bonded to it. This gives it a straight structure, which allows them to stack on top of each other. Because they can stack, they are solid at room temperature. therefore they are solid in your arteries and can block them, which makes them unhealthy.
Unsaturated fats have a carbon which has a double bond with another carbon. This double bond gives the molecule a bent structure, so they cannot stack on top of each other and are liquid at room temperature. These are the healthier fats.
