Q.Explain the chemical nature, structure and role of phospholipids in biological membrane.

Step 1. Chemical nature: a phospholipid molecule is built from one glycerol molecule, two fatty-acid chains, and a phosphate group (some, such as lecithin, also carry a nitrogenous compound attached to the phosphate).

Step 2. Structure: this gives the molecule two chemically distinct ends — a hydrophilic (polar) head, formed by the phosphate (and any nitrogenous group), which is attracted to water, and a hydrophobic (non-polar) tail, formed by the two fatty-acid hydrocarbon chains, which avoids water. A molecule with both a polar and a non-polar part like this is called amphipathic. …

Describe phospholipid chemical composition, its amphipathic structure, and how that structure ex …

• Describing phospholipids as simply 'water-soluble' or 'water-insoluble' without recognising they are both at once (amphipathic) in different parts of the same molecule. …