Membranes — the phosphate–glycerol head vs the fatty acid tails
“A large proportion of candidates… did not realise that the structure labelled 2 is the head of a phospholipid molecule and includes the part to which the fatty acid tails are attached. It must therefore include phosphate and glycerol.”
Click through the regions of a phospholipid. See how glycerol links the phosphate head to the two fatty acid tails, and why the head is hydrophilic.
The head (region ‘2’ in the exam) is phosphate + glycerol together. The tails are the two fatty acids esterified to the glycerol.
Original reconstruction inspired by the misconceptions described in the Singapore-Cambridge GCE A-Level H1 Biology 8876 November 2023 Examiner Report. Not the actual examination question. For classroom exploration.
Made by lookang, using Claude Fable 5. More resources: iwant2study.org