Mondo Knows Facts
A double layer of lipids forms cell membranes
Water loving heads face outward while oily tails hide inside Phospholipids have a charged head that mixes with water and two fatty tails that do not. In water they arrange themselves into a sheet two molecules thick, with the tails tucked away from the surroundings. The same self assembly produces the outer boundary of every living cell. It sits in Mondo's science collection, one of 200 facts that each trace back to the reference below.
Where this comes from
Facts that can change over time are reviewed and updated. If something here looks wrong, Mondo would rather know than be confidently incorrect.
Go further
More facts like this
Cell size is limited by diffusionAs a cell grows, its volume outpaces the surface area it needs for suppliesMature red blood cells have no nucleusMammalian red cells eject it to make room for more oxygen carrying proteinMitosis and meiosis divide cells differentlyOne makes identical copies, the other halves the chromosome numberCell theory began with a piece of corkRobert Hooke saw tiny empty compartments in cork and called them cellsMitochondria produce most of the energy used by eukaryotic cellsCellular respiration inside mitochondria converts nutrients into energy-rich ATP moleculesApoptosis is an orderly process of programmed cell suicideCells activate internal self-destruction pathways to eliminate damaged or unwanted tissue
🔬 Sciencefact 180 of 200
← → to keep reading, or swipe
Tags: biology, cells, membranes
A double layer of lipids forms cell membranes: the short answers
- Where does this come from, and can I check it?
- Water loving heads face outward while oily tails hide inside. The figure is taken from Encyclopaedia Britannica, which is linked in full on this page. Every fact on Mondo Knows names its source rather than repeating an unsourced claim.
- Is this really a science fact?
- Yes. It sits on the Science shelf, one of 2,600 sourced facts grouped into space, animals, the human body, history, science and more. Category pages collect every fact in the same field.
- What else can I read about it?
- The links under the fact point to a quiz, game, puzzle or calculator on the same subject, and the shelf below shows related facts. The wording here is original, and quoted phrases are marked as quotations.