Question

The shorthand used by chemists to denote fatty acids is based on which guideline?

a. The first number indicates the number of double bonds, the second number indicates the number of carbon atoms, and the third number indicates the amount of saturation.
b. The first number indicates the number of carbon atoms and the second number indicates the location of the double bond structure.
c. The first number is divided by the second number to come up with an index score for each fatty acid.
d. The first number indicates the number of carbon atoms and the second number indicates the number of double bonds.
e. The acids are simply sequentially numbered.

Answer 1

Chemists use a shorthand notation to denote fatty acids based on the number of carbon atoms and the location of double bonds in the structure.

Step-by-step explanation:

The shorthand used by chemists to denote fatty acids is based on option b. In this notation, the first number indicates the number of carbon atoms in the fatty acid chain, and the second number indicates the location of double bonds in the structure. For example, palmitic acid, a 16 carbon saturated fatty acid, is denoted as C16:0, while palmitoleic acid, a 16 carbon monounsaturated fatty acid with a double bond at carbon number 9, is denoted as C16:1(9).