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VCE Stuff => VCE Science => VCE Mathematics/Science/Technology => VCE Subjects + Help => VCE Chemistry => Topic started by: ltee on November 12, 2007, 06:50:41 pm

Title: fatty acids! saturated, unsaturated?
Post by: ltee on November 12, 2007, 06:50:41 pm
so like, sometimes they give us the formulas for saturated, unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids and they ask us to identify them

 does anyone know the general formulas for them or if there is one?

help me out!!
Title: Re: fatty acids! saturated, unsaturated?
Post by: ninwa on November 12, 2007, 06:55:42 pm
Quote from: "ltee"
so like, sometimes they give us the formulas for saturated, unsaturated and polyunsaturated fatty acids and they ask us to identify them

 does anyone know the general formulas for them or if there is one?

help me out!!


saturated: CnH2n+1COOH

mono-unsaturated: CnH2n-1COOH

poly-unsaturated: CnH2n-3 / 5 / 7 / etcCOOH

.... I think.
Title: fatty acids! saturated, unsaturated?
Post by: cara.mel on November 12, 2007, 07:02:27 pm
Nina's right (don't doubt yourself :P)
Just adding onto it:
If it's written in the form CxHyO2
Saturated: CnH2nO2
Monounsaturated: CnH(2n-2)O2
Polyunsaturated: more then that.
Title: fatty acids! saturated, unsaturated?
Post by: ninwa on November 12, 2007, 07:16:32 pm
Quote from: "cara.mel"
Nina's right (don't doubt yourself :P)
Just adding onto it:
If it's written in the form CxHyO2
Saturated: CnH2nO2
Monounsaturated: CnH(2n-2)O2
Polyunsaturated: more then that.


I always doubt myself :(

I didn't know about that ... did we get taught that? :?

Oh well. When it's written in that form, I just minus one C and one H and keep using my formula regardless :P
Title: fatty acids! saturated, unsaturated?
Post by: Collin Li on November 12, 2007, 07:17:36 pm
Remembering general formulas? Boring!

Just treat the -COOH group as a -H
(e.g: C17H35COOH has the same saturation as C17H36, which is an "alkane," i.e. saturated).
Title: fatty acids! saturated, unsaturated?
Post by: kingmar on November 12, 2007, 07:24:00 pm
Theory questions! Crap!

Calculations ftw!
Title: fatty acids! saturated, unsaturated?
Post by: enwiabe on November 12, 2007, 07:39:27 pm
Quote from: "coblin"
Remembering general formulas? Boring!

Just treat the -COOH group as a -H
(e.g: C17H35COOH has the same saturation as C17H36, which is an "alkane," i.e. saturated).


Oh yeah, Coblin. I completely agree. Remembering formulas is annoying! Kind of like remembering the CnH2n+2 formula of alkanes and then applying it to fats. :P
Title: fatty acids! saturated, unsaturated?
Post by: cara.mel on November 12, 2007, 07:51:15 pm
Quote from: "ninwa"
Quote from: "cara.mel"
Nina's right (don't doubt yourself :P)
Just adding onto it:
If it's written in the form CxHyO2
Saturated: CnH2nO2
Monounsaturated: CnH(2n-2)O2
Polyunsaturated: more then that.


I always doubt myself :(

I didn't know about that ... did we get taught that? :?

Oh well. When it's written in that form, I just minus one C and one H and keep using my formula regardless :P


I dont think we got taught that, it's one of the things I taught myself when we had to do all the practise exams over the holidays (that she never checked xD) I found they were written that way more often then with the COOH at the end =/
I swear, most of my food chem stuff is just rote learned and I would die having to apply any of it to unfamiliar contexts ^_^
Title: fatty acids! saturated, unsaturated?
Post by: ninwa on November 12, 2007, 08:02:21 pm
Quote from: "enwiabe"

Oh yeah, Coblin. I completely agree. Remembering formulas is annoying! Kind of like remembering the CnH2n+2 formula of alkanes and then applying it to fats. :P

Oh snap.  :wink: :roll:


Aww Mel I wish I had your skill for learning-stuff-on-your-own :( although I love food chem cos it's just unit 3 bio simplified ^^
Title: fatty acids! saturated, unsaturated?
Post by: sachi_star on November 12, 2007, 08:18:23 pm
:lol: yay for biol, ot rocks

 :( boo for chem
Title: fatty acids! saturated, unsaturated?
Post by: cara.mel on November 12, 2007, 08:18:48 pm
That's why I hate food chem. Death to all living things, who needs them? =)

Seriously, before we started I barely knew what the difference between proteins, carbohydrates and fats were, and it was the only area of study this unit I've actually studied for in an attempt to learn it, and it seemed like in class only the forumlas were sticking and any worded things (like enzymes, primary/sec/tertiary structure, hell even what the functions of proteins are) were sifting through. On the other hand, I remembered without effort amino acids are zwitterions in water, such a funky name :)
See, before food chem I wouldn't have known what 'amino acid' means

The only thing I like about it are the carbon/nitrogen cycles o_O
Title: fatty acids! saturated, unsaturated?
Post by: ninwa on November 12, 2007, 08:23:49 pm
Quote from: "cara.mel"

The only thing I like about it are the carbon/nitrogen cycles o_O


 :?
That's the only bit I hate. Lol =\
Title: fatty acids! saturated, unsaturated?
Post by: Collin Li on November 12, 2007, 09:18:13 pm
Quote from: "ninwa"
Quote from: "enwiabe"

Oh yeah, Coblin. I completely agree. Remembering formulas is annoying! Kind of like remembering the CnH2n+2 formula of alkanes and then applying it to fats. :P

Oh snap.  :wink: :roll:


The formula for alkanes is far more accessible than the formula for a saturated fatty acid.

It minimises the amount of memorisation you need, and also keeps you thinking.
Title: fatty acids! saturated, unsaturated?
Post by: melanie.dee on November 12, 2007, 11:28:17 pm
fuck fuck i hate rote learning. how am i supposed to learn/memorise all this theory stuff for chem in 2 days?? at the moment, im sweet with equations and calculations, but anything i have to memorise is SHOCKING. food chem, nitrogen/carbon cycles. ahhhhhhhhhhhhh how am i going to memorise it all! i dearly hope the exam is most calculations
Title: fatty acids! saturated, unsaturated?
Post by: Ahmad on November 12, 2007, 11:33:49 pm
That's exactly how I feel mel. You are not alone.

Physics has barely any content. But chemistry's a monster!  :shock:
Title: fatty acids! saturated, unsaturated?
Post by: ltee on November 13, 2007, 10:04:22 am
thanks guys! i was thinking of the ones ninwa posted, and thanks cara.mel as well :] that really sums it up
Title: fatty acids! saturated, unsaturated?
Post by: ninwa on November 13, 2007, 12:17:08 pm
Quote from: "melanie.dee"
fuck fuck i hate rote learning. how am i supposed to learn/memorise all this theory stuff for chem in 2 days?? at the moment, im sweet with equations and calculations, but anything i have to memorise is SHOCKING. food chem, nitrogen/carbon cycles. ahhhhhhhhhhhhh how am i going to memorise it all! i dearly hope the exam is most calculations


I find it sort of helps me sometimes to use silly little memory aids which seem to nly make sense to me lol.

e.g.
metals which are magnetic = FeCoNi

nitrogen cycle: denitrification = getting rid of nitr(.... ate) = getting rid of soluble compound = nitrogen compounds ---> N2

nitrification = making nitr(.... ate) from ammonium

etc. Yeah, I have weird ways of remembering things but they do work :P