How do carbohydrates differ from lipids?

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Answer 1 · 2015-06-13T14:53:41

Carbohydrates have many polar #"OH"# groups. Lipids consist largely of nonpolar hydrocarbon chains.

Carbohydrates

A typical carbohydrate is glucose, #"C"_6"H"_12"O"_6 #.

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Most carbohydrates are hydrophilic and soluble in water because of their polar #"OH"# groups.

Lipids

Lipids are hydrophobic and insoluble in water.

They have varied structures, but all have a polar "head" and a large nonpolar "tail"".

Fats and oils are typical lipids.

The structure of a typical fat is

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The molecule is mostly nonpolar hydrocarbon with some polar #"C=O"# groups at one end.