Re: Are fats classified as polymers

Usually, we call polymers repetitive subunits linked together. Fat is a word that implies a lot of things. There are fatty acids that are saturated (all single bonds) or unsaturated (one or more multiple bonds) organic chains. They have a methyl (CH3) and carboxyl (COOH) extremities with variable amounts of CH2s in between. These fatty acids are not polymers since they're ususally in their free state (free fatty acids), so there are no repetitive chains.

Although if there is a molecule called glycerol (composed of three carbons and three hydroxy groups) near these free fatty acids, the formation of either mono, di or triglycerids by esterification can occur. Esterification is the formation of an ester bond (R-CO2- R) in the presence of a hydroxy group and a carboxyl by the release of a H2O. So if a glycerol is linked to two or three fatty acids, we can call them polymers of fatty acids since there is a repetition of a somewhat common subunit.

Now there are different polymers... for exemple homopolymers, heteropolymers, polymers with a principal chain....

So if by "fat" you mean the triglycerides that your body stocks in fat cells those are usually heteropolymers of fatty acids.

Hope this answers your question.