Fats That Are Solid At Room Temperature

Fats made up of saturated fatty acids are solid at room temperature.

Fats that are solid at room temperature.

This building of bricks is similar to the tightly packed bonds that make saturated fat. Save 40 on an annual subscription to bbc science focus magazine all fats have the same basic structure but there are some key chemical differences between solid fats and liquid oils. Imagine a building made of solid bricks. To form a solid molecules need to pack together nicely while in a liquid there is less order and the molecules flow around each other.

This competition is now closed. Why are fats solid at room temperature but oils liquid. Fats or fatty acids. Two of the carbons are connected by a double bond and two of the hydrogens are missing.

Saturated fats are most often found in animal products such as beef pork and chicken. Oils come from many different plants such as corn and peanuts and from fish. A few plant oils including coconut oil and palm oil are high in saturated fats and for nutritional purposes are considered solid fats. Fats triglycerides that contain palmitic acid and stearic acid are therefore known as saturated fats.

Fat molecules are mostly made up of long straight hydrocarbon chains. In contrast to solid fats oils are fats that are liquid at room temperature like the vegetable oils used in cooking. You can also see that oleic acid is not saturated. Why are animal fats solid yet vegetable oils liquid at room temperature.