Multiple choice

Lipids in the plasma membrane have

  1. hydrophilic part only

  2. hydrophobic part only

  3. both hydrophilic and hydrophobic parts

  4. no fatty acid chains
Reveal answer Fill a bubble to check yourself
C Correct answer
Explanation

Most of the lipids in biological membranes are phospholipids. Phospholipids have both hydrophilic regions and hydrophobic regions. In hydrophilic regions, phosphorus containing head of phospholipid is electrically charged and hence associates with polar water molecules. In hydrophobic regions, long, nonpolar fatty acid tails of the phospholipids associate with other nonpolar materials, but they do not dissolve in water or associate with hydrophilic substances.

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