Question

What are the 4 major differences between saturated and unsaturated fatty acid?

Answer 1

The four differences are:

1. Saturated fatty acids have single covalent bonds between carbon atoms, whereas unsaturated fatty acids have one or more than one double bonds

2. Saturated fatty acids have straight chains whereas unsaturated fatty acids have a bent shape at the double bonds.

3. Unsaturated fatty acids can exist in two forms cis or trans because of the presence of double bonds, wheras saturated fatty acids do not have any cis or trans form.

4. Melting points of saturated fatty acids are higher (solid at room temperature) than that of unsaturated fatty acids (liquid at room temperature).