Drawing Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions Worksheet

Drawing Hydrophobic and Hydrophilic Interactions Worksheet:

1. Emulsifiers surround oil and form a protective layer so that the oil molecules cannot "clump" together. This action helps keeps small droplets dispersed in an aqueous (watery) environment. This is similar to what happens when you use soap to wash oil from a pan. Thinking about the properties of lipids and water, what properties would your emulsifier need to have to interact with both lipids and water? Draw the basic structure of your emulsifier. Then, draw your emulsifier surrounding the oil droplets in a water environment. Compare and discuss this with your classmates. Did you come up with a similar design?

2. What class of biological lipids has properties much like the emulsifiers?

3. During the BP oil spill of 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, why was the dispersant/emulsifier, Corexit applied to the waters? What would this have accomplished? (Over 800,000 gallons of dispersants had been applied to Gulf waters mainly via helicopter, but this also includes 100,000 gallons that were injected deep underwater.)

4. Lipids are an excellent source of energy in your diet. Yet your internal environment is aqueous. How do you think lipids enter into the cells of your gut, given their hydrophobic properties?

5. Going back to your structural design of emulsifers, how would your picture change if you had a few droplets of water dispersed in an oily environment with the help of an emulsifier?