BIOLOGY 151 Lecture Notes - Lecture 39: London Dispersion Force, Phosphocholine, Lipid Bilayer
Document Summary
Fatty acids can be saturated or unsaturated. Fatty acids attached to a po;ar phosphocholine group through a three carbon molecule. Phosoholii structure favors the formation of membrane wher the polar groups are intereactiong with water, and the nonpolar groups are sandwiched in the middle. Water molecules are polar, with partial positive and negative charges. Polar phosphocholine head attracts water nonpolar fatty acid tails are neutral, and don"t interact with water. Water is polar and exerts adn attractive force on the phosphocholine heads on phospholipids, pulling them to the outsides of the lipid bilayer, and pushing the nonpolar fatty acid side chains to the inside. London dispersion forces: van der waals interactions estabilshed by alternating, temporary dipole moments that occur in resonance between adjacent nonpolar hydrocarbon chains. Seal a layer of grease in the middle of a membrane that polar molecules can not penetrate.
