AP BIOLOGY

Detailed explanation-1: -Detergents and soaps are familiar examples of amphipathic molecules, but many biochemical molecules are also amphipaths. Examples include phospholipids, which form the basis of cell membranes. Cholesterol, glycolipids, and fatty acids are amphipaths which also incorporate into cell membranes.

Detailed explanation-2: -Soap is effective as a cleaning agent because it is amphiphilic; it is partly polar and partly nonpolar. Soap molecules contain an intensely polar “head” (the ionic part) and a non-polar “tail” (the long hydrocarbon chain, usually 10-18 carbons, depending on which fatty acid is used).

Detailed explanation-3: -Soap molecules are amphipathic and thus have both properties of non-polar and polar at opposite ends of the molecule. The oil is a pure hydrocarbon so it is non-polar. The non-polar hydrocarbon tail of the soap dissolves into the oil.

Detailed explanation-4: -Surfactants, polymer amphiphiles, and some lipid molecules, containing both hydrophilic and hydrophobic components, are typical examples of amphiphilic molecules.

Detailed explanation-5: -The molecule of soap constitutes sodium or potassium salts of long-chain carboxylic acids.