Question

If a small droplet of ordinary fat molecules is suspended in water, the fat molecules form a "ball of spaghetti" with no particular orientation. But if a droplet of phospholipids is put in water, all the molecules point outward, toward the water. Phospholipids are forced into this orientation because phospholipids have ___________.

Answer 1

Answer:

Option 1, a charged end and a noncharged end

Explanation:

Complete question

If a small droplet of ordinary fat is suspended in water, the fat molecules form a "ball of spaghetti" with no particular orientation. But if a droplet of phospholipid molecules is put in water, all the molecules point outward, toward the water. Phospholipids are forced into this orientation because phospholipids have _____

1.  a charged end and a noncharged end
2.  three fatty acid molecules, all pointing in different directions
3.  two fatty acid molecules pointing in different directions
4.  both a saturated fatty acid and an unsaturated fatty acid
5.  two charged ends

Solution

The structure of phospholipids consists of the following groups and molecules –  

a) A glycerol molecule  

b) Fatty acids (2 in numbers) – It is hydrophobic as it is uncharged and non polar in nature

c) Phosphate group (with alcohol) – It is hydrophilic as it is negatively charged and polar in nature.  

When the phospholipids are placed in  water, the molecule rearranges itself in a way that the hydrophobic head face inside and the hydrophilic head face outside thereby forming micelles.

Hence, option 1 is correct