How does the presence of double bonds affect the melting point in fatty acids?Explain with the help of two examples.
1 Answer
Fatty acids with doubles bonds to have a lower melting point than those with single bonds.
Explanation:
Single bonds in saturated fats mean that the fatty acid chain is straight, which allows the molecules to pack closely together to form a solid at room temperature (e.g. butter).
Double bonds in unsaturated fats cause kinks in fatty acid chain which prevent the molecules from packing closely together to form a solid at room temperature, so such fats are liquid in room temperature (e.g. olive oil).
Olive oil has a lower melting point than butter.
[Lower temperature required to turn olive into liquid, higher temperature required to turn butter into liquid]
Thus double bonding in unsaturated fats (olive oil) cause fatty acids to have lower melting point as compared to single bonding in saturated fats (butter).
