Final answer:
The hydrogenation process creates saturated fats by solidifying liquid oils. This involves adding hydrogen to unsaturated fats or altering the bond structure to make them behave like saturated fats.
Step-by-step explanation:
The hydrogenation process is primarily used in the food industry to convert liquid oils into semi-solid fats, which are easier to spread and have a longer shelf-life. This process involves bubbling hydrogen gas through oils to solidify them. As a result, the double bonds in the hydrocarbon chains of these oils may go from a cis-conformation to a trans-conformation, creating trans fats. These trans fats behave similarly to saturated fats because of their linear shape which is a result of the rearrangement of the double bonds.
Additionally, saturated fats contain the maximum number of hydrogen atoms bonded to their carbon chains. Thus, the correct answer to the student's question is C. Saturated fats. During hydrogenation, some unsaturated fats convert into saturated fats by the addition of hydrogen atoms, eliminating their double bonds, while others convert to trans fats due to the reorientation of existing double bonds.