6. The diagram shows the building blocks of a lipid molecule. A. Determine the name of each type of molecule.
Molecule A:
Molecule B:

B. How many molecules of A normally combine with one molecule of B to form a single fat molecule?

A) Molecule A: Fatty acid

Molecule B: Glycerol

B) 3 molecules of molecule A(fatty acid) normally combine with one molecule of B (glycerol) to form a single fat molecule

Explanation:

QUESTION A:

Fats/lipids are one of the four major biomolecules in living systems. They are polymers, and like any polymer, they are made up of monomeric units which serve as building blocks. In the case of fats/lipids, fatty acids and glycerol are the two major building blocks.

Fatty acids are biological compounds made up of a hydrocarbon chain with a terminal carboxyll group (-COOH), which confers its acidic properties upon it. Hence, based on the structural diagram of molecule A in the attached image, it can be observed that the functional group is a carboxyll group. Therefore, molecule A is a FATTY ACID.

Glycerol is a compound with more than one hydroxyll group (-OH) in its chemical structure. It has the chemical formula; C3H8O3 with three hydroxyll groups attached to each of the carbon atoms. Therefore, as observed in the image, molecule B is a GLYCEROL because it contains 3 hydroxyll groups.

QUESTION B:

In the chemical structure of a fat molecule, three fatty acids are attached to each of the three carbon atoms of the glycerol molecule. This is done through the process of esterification i.e. combination of carboxyll group with hydroxyll group. Due to the fact that it takes 3 molecules of fatty acids to combine with one molecule of glycerol, fats are referred to as triglycerides.

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explanation: