Knowee
Questions
Features
Study Tools

Why is a phospholipid dipolar?

Question

Why is a phospholipid dipolar?

🧐 Not the exact question you are looking for?Go ask a question

Solution

A phospholipid is considered dipolar because of its structure. It consists of a hydrophilic (water-loving) head and a hydrophobic (water-fearing) tail.

  1. The hydrophilic head: This part of the phospholipid is attracted to water. It is made up of a phosphate group and a glycerol molecule, both of which are polar. This means they have a slight electrical charge, which allows them to interact with water, which is also polar.

  2. The hydrophobic tail: This part of the phospholipid is repelled by water. It is made up of two fatty acid chains, which are nonpolar. This means they do not have a charge and therefore do not interact with water.

Because a phospholipid has both a hydrophilic head and a hydrophobic tail, it is considered dipolar. This property is crucial for the formation of cell membranes, where phospholipids arrange themselves into a bilayer with the hydrophilic heads facing outwards towards the water environment and the hydrophobic tails facing inwards away from the water.

This problem has been solved

Similar Questions

The phospholipid bilayer of the cell membrane is like a

What is the difference between a phospholipid and a triglyceride?

_____________ is involved in the synthesis of phospholipids.

Phospholipids are amphipathic, which means they contain components that:can only be in contact with other lipids and not waterAllow a cell to be recognisedcan only be in contact with water and not lipidscan be in contact with water and components that prefer to be in contact with lipids.

The fatty acid portion of a phospholipid is insoluble in water and is therefore described as .

1/3

Upgrade your grade with Knowee

Get personalized homework help. Review tough concepts in more detail, or go deeper into your topic by exploring other relevant questions.