Biology / Unit 1 Bio 0203 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Phospholipids
Captions available
The idea
A phospholipid has two fatty acid chains and a phosphate-containing head, giving it a water-attracting head and two water-repelling tails.
In practice
In water, phospholipids spontaneously arrange into a double layer, heads facing water on both sides and tails facing each other in the middle.
Where people slip
A phospholipid's dual nature, one water-attracting end and one water-repelling end, drives that arrangement, not any active process.
Your place on the trail
Every lesson rests on earlier ones and opens later ones. Tap any to jump.
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