What happens to the shape of the hydrophobic tail in a phospholipid when a double bond is present in the carbon chain?

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Chemistry

Stanley Hatfield

19 July, 07:20

What happens to the shape of the hydrophobic tail in a phospholipid when a double bond is present in the carbon chain?

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Jamison Eaton · Answer 1

The shape of the hydrophobic tail creates a kink. Some double bonds between some of the carbons in the hydrocarbon tail, cause bends or "kinks" in the shape of the molecules. Because some of the carbons share double bonds, they’re not bonded to as many hydrogen as they could if they weren’t double bonded to each other.