Saturated fatty acids contain which of the following?

• A. double bonds
• B. no double bonds
• C. triple bonds
• D. aromatic rings

Answer: (B)

Saturation describes how many carbon–carbon bonds are present in the fatty acid chain. In saturated fatty acids, every bond between neighboring carbons is a single bond, so each carbon holds as many hydrogens as possible. That leaves no double bonds along the chain. If a fatty acid had one or more double bonds, it would be unsaturated, which is typical of fats that are liquid at room temperature or contain cis-unsaturations. Triple bonds aren’t typical in fatty acid chains, and aromatic rings are not a feature of the standard linear fatty acid; they would imply a different class of compounds. Therefore, the defining trait of saturated fatty acids is the absence of double bonds.