Question
The carbon-carbon bond distance for single-bonded carbons such as those in a saturated fatty acyl chain is about $1.5 A .$ Estimate the length of a single molecule of palmitate in its fully extended form. If two molecules of palmitate were placed end to end, how would their total length compare with the thickness of the lipid bilayer in a biological membrane?
Step 1
In this case, the bond length is 1.5 Armstrong and the number of carbon-carbon bonds in palmitate is 15. Therefore, the length of a single molecule of palmitate is $15 \times 1.5 \, \text{Armstrong} = 22.5 \, \text{Armstrong}$. Show more…
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