This is because they are two-faced molecules, with hydrophilic (water-loving) phosphate heads and hydrophobic (water-fearing) hydrocarbon tails of fatty acids. In water, these molecules ...

The most abundant membrane lipids are the phospholipids. These have a polar head group and two hydrophobic hydrocarbon tails. The tails are usually fatty acids, and they can differ in length (they ...

This head is connected to a glycerol (green) with two hydrophobic tails (purple ... two of the carbon atoms in one of the hydrocarbon (fatty acid) tails causes a slight kink on this molecule ...