okay so the purpose of this quick video is to discuss the differences between saturated versus unsaturated fats so let's get started now before we get into saturated and unsaturated fats we have to lay some groundwork with some basic information about carbon from the periodic table I know the atomic number of six means six protons but it also means carbon has six electrons so if I draw the six electrons you might know that the first level of electrons can carry two electrons and then the second level of electrons must be the other four so the two in the first level the four in the second level adds up to carbon's six electrons so right now you might recognize that carbon is an unstable atom and as a result it will form coent bonds with up to four other atoms carbon is unique because it will bond up to four times in order to become stable that's one of its unique characteristics here's an example of carbon bonding four times in order to become stable the carbon in the middle has bonded with four hydrogens to become stable here's another example of carbon bonding four times you notice how there are two carbons look at the carbon on the left there are four dashes attached to the carbon on the left there's also four dashes attached to the carbon on the right so these carbons are stable and now here's a triple bond example here notice how the carbon on the left has four dashes attached to it four bonds and the carbon on the right has four dashes attached to it four bonds so this is one of the unique characteristics of carbon and this is going to be important in a few moments when we get into the saturated and unsaturated fats well if we just first of all look at lipids to begin with lipids are one of the four categories of organic molecules carbon based molecules so carbohydrates you know potatoes are high in starch and starch is a carbohydrate proteins you know eggs are high in proteins that's another one of the categories of organic molecules nucleic acids such as DNA and RNA and lipids well we're going to transition into the saturated and unsaturated f in a moment well chemically lipids have two basic parts to them they have a head molecule named glycerol and just the head because it's kind of at the top and dangling down they have chains of fatty acids here's a fatty acid chain right here notice how it's a collection of carbon and hydrogen this is why they're called hydrocarbons these fatty acids are are a chain of hydrocarbons and there tend to be one two to Three fatty acids that will attach to that one glycerol to make a lipid this is also commonly called a uh a a triglyceride and lipids are great because they store energy and your cells can use this energy but when we actually look at the difference between saturated versus unsaturated fatty acids saturated fatty acids no notice how it's a long chain carbon to carbon to carbon to carbon and there's a single bond in between every carbon and the reason it's called saturated because the rest of the atoms involved are hydrogens this chain of carbon is filled with or saturated completely filled with and saturated with hydrogen remember carbon bonds up to four times every single open bond is occupied by a hydrogen and as a result this fatty A this saturated fatty acid chain is dense and Compact and therefore solid at room temperatures such as butter that you see in the upper right hand corner these also tend to be the saturated fatty acids also tend to be the fatty acids that are from animals for instance butter is made from cow's milk so here's a glycerol m molecule with 1 2 three saturated fatty acids and in a dehydration synthesis reaction water is removed and all four bond together to make a lipid in this case a lipid made from saturated fatty acids well when we look at a unsaturated fatty acid at least one double bond in between two of the carbons and because of that double bond there's less space for hydrogen to occupy if you're wondering well why can't I just put two hydrogens right there in red in those open gaps well remember carbon bonds four times if I add those two red hydrogens that would be a fifth Bond onto those two carbons that have the double bond so that that doesn't fit doesn't work so carbon bonds four times let me get rid of those two in red so here is a a unsaturated fat notice how it's not as completely filled with hydrogen you also notice that there's a kink in it that double bond causes the chain of carbon to Kink and bend a little bit and this causes the unsaturated fatty acids to be more liquid at room temperature such as olive oil and these tend to be the fatty acids that come from plants and fish fats and so here is a picture of a monounsaturated fatty acid monos a prefix that means one notice how there is one double bond in this unsaturated fatty acid this is why it's called a mono unsaturated fatty acid well here's a picture of a polyunsaturated fatty acid that just implies that there are multiple double Bonds located throughout the fatty acid chains and so there you have it a quick side by-side comparison of saturated versus unsaturated fatty acids I hope you found this video to be helpful and please leave your comments in the comment box below thank you for watching