Questions: Why does olive oil have a lower melting point than butter fat? Match the words in the left column to the appropriate blanks in the sentences on the right. hydrogen bonding interactions monounsaturated dispersion forces Olive oil has a lower melting point because it contains mostly monounsaturated fatty acids, whereas butter contains a large number of saturated fatty acids. A monounsaturated fatty acid has a kink in its carbon chain, which means it cannot pack together as tightly as the saturated hydrocarbon chains in butter and, therefore, does not experience as many dispersion forces as butter. saturated dipole-dipole interactions

Solution Steps

Olive oil and butter fat differ in their composition of fatty acids. Olive oil primarily contains unsaturated fatty acids, while butter fat contains a higher proportion of saturated fatty acids. The presence of double bonds in unsaturated fatty acids introduces kinks in their structure.

The kinks in unsaturated fatty acids prevent them from packing closely together, which reduces the strength of intermolecular forces, such as van der Waals forces. This results in a lower melting point for substances like olive oil, which are rich in unsaturated fatty acids.

Based on the understanding of the composition and structure of fatty acids in olive oil and butter fat, we can fill in the blanks as follows:

1. Olive oil has a lower melting point because it contains mostly unsaturated fatty acids.
2. Butter contains a large number of saturated fatty acids.
3. A unsaturated fatty acid has a kink in its carbon chain.
4. The saturated hydrocarbon chains in butter can pack more tightly.
5. Therefore, olive oil does not experience as many van der Waals forces as butter.

Final Answer