Chemistry Essay Sample on Unsaturated and Saturated Fats

a) What are the chemical properties of water and why is it so important for life?

Water is the most abundant chemical in the earth. At least 70% of the earth is covered with water. One of the chemical properties of water is that it is polar. Water is made up of two hydrogen atoms covalently bonded to one molecule of water in an angular formation (Morawietz et. al., 2016, p. 2100). The wetness of water comes from conglomeration of millions of water molecules, since one molecule of water is not wet. Water is colorless, odorless, and chemically inert. It has a ph. of 7 meaning that it is chemically neutral. It has the ability to dissolve polar chemicals like salt through hydration (Lybrand and Kollman, 1985, p. 2933). It is an important chemical in life due to its function in the cell. Water provides the plasma that the body uses to dissolve chemicals and ions in the body. It is also a medium of transport for toxins secreted from the body. Water determines the Ph. of blood and also the hemoglobin concentration in the body. For plants, it enable photosynthesis to take place, it is also a useful medium of transport in the plant cells (Hoganson & Babcock, 1997, p. 1953).

b) Why do oil and water not mix?

Water is a polar substance while oil is non-polar (Morawietz et. al.,2016, p. 2102). Polar substances have free ions that can form chemical bonds in the presence of other free ions. Fats, however, are non-polar and do not contain free ions. They contain glycerol as the body and ether saturated or unsaturated fatty acids in their structure. Neither glycerol nor fatty acids are polar and therefore cannot dissolve in water. The failure of water to mix with oil follows the rule of the thumb that like dissolves like.

c) What are unsaturated fats and saturated fats?

Fatty acids are long hydrocarbon chains. A hydrocarbon chain contains carbon that is covalently bonded to hydrogen ions. One carbon atoms binds to four other atoms. When the atoms are only hydrogen, one carbon atom will, therefore, bind to four hydrogen atoms. In the fatty acid chains, one carbon atom binds to two other carbon atoms and two hydrogen atoms through single covalent bonds. If fatty acids have this kind of conformation, then they are called saturated fat. However, in some instances, a carbon atom may bond to another carbon atom through double covalent bonds. This only allows that atom to bind with only one other hydrogen atom. When such a structure form in the fatty acid chain, there develops a kink and the fat is thus called unsaturated fat. This means that the carbon atom is not saturated with the maximum number of hydrogen atoms that it would ordinarily bond to.

d) Why are unsaturated fats less chemically stable than saturated fats?

Unsaturated fats are less chemically stable because they have a kink in their structure. Therefore, unsaturated fat chains cannot pile on top of each other to form plaques in the body (De Souza et. al., 2015, p. 351). These fats are also called cis- fats because of their chemical instability. Unsaturated fats also contain a carbon atom that has not bound four hydrogen atoms. Therefore, the double bond that binds two carbon atoms can be broken and render the fatty acid capable of binding to another hydrogen atom.

e) What are the functions of cholesterol, in the human body?

Cholesterol is very important precursor in the biosynthesis of steroid hormones in the body (Miller, 1988, p. 298). Some of the hormones that contain cholesterol in the chemical structure include testosterone, estrogen, cortisol and vitamin D (Christakos et al, 2010, p. 243). cholesterol is also a very important precursor in the synthesis of bile that controls the digestion of fats in the stomach.

List of References

Christakos, S., Ajibade, D.V., Dhawan, P., Fechner, A.J. and Mady, L.J., 2010. Vitamin D: metabolism. Endocrinology and metabolism clinics of North America, 39(2), p.243.

De Souza, R.J., Mente, A., Maroleanu, A., Cozma, A.I., Ha, V., Kishibe, T., Uleryk, E., Budylowski, P., Schunemann, H., Beyene, J. and Anand, S.S., 2015. Intake of saturated and trans unsaturated fatty acids and risk of all cause mortality, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes: systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies. Bmj, 351, p.h3978.

Hoganson, C.W. and Babcock, G.T., 1997. A metalloradical mechanism for the generation of oxygen from water in photosynthesis. Science, 277(5334), pp.1953-1956.

Lybrand, T.P. and Kollman, P.A., 1985. Waterwater and waterion potential functions including terms for many body effects. The Journal of chemical physics, 83(6), pp.2923-2933.

Miller, W.L., 1988. Molecular biology of steroid hormone synthesis. Endocrine reviews, 9(3), pp.295-318.

Morawietz, T., Singraber, A., Dellago, C. and Behler, J., 2016. How van der Waals interactions determine the unique properties of water. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, p.2016-2375.