So now that we know what fatty acids are, in this video, we're going to talk about how fatty acids can be used to build another type of lipid called triglycerides. And so triglycerides, as their name implies with the "tri" prefix here, these are lipids with 3 fatty acid chains. And so the "tri" is a prefix that means 3, and that's why they have 3 fatty acid chains. Now these 3 fatty acid chains in a triglyceride are going to be covalently linked to a single glycerol molecule. Now, fatty acids are going to be linked to the glycerol molecule via dehydration synthesis reactions, and so we know that dehydration synthesis reactions are used to build up a molecule.

So let's take a look at our image down below to get a better understanding of this triglyceride. So notice over here on the far left, what we're showing you is a molecule in purple that represents the glycerol molecule, the single glycerol molecule that we were discussing up above here. And then also notice over here in yellow, we have these 3 fatty acids, and so we can go ahead and put 3 fatty acids here. And so notice that the fatty acids are all separate from one another here in this image, and the glycerol is also separate. And so if we want to combine these separate units together and build a larger structure, then of course we're going to need a dehydration synthesis reaction.

And so notice that each of these chains, these fatty acid chains here, can undergo a dehydration synthesis reaction to release 3 water molecules, one for each of the chains that interacts with each of these components here on the glycerol. And so you can see the OHs here, that react with the Hs here to form water molecules, and there are 3 of them that get formed. And once again, that's why we have the 3 out in front. Now notice over here on the far right, after the dehydration synthesis reactions, we've now combined and connected these 3 fatty acids covalently to the glycerol molecule. And so, recall that when we have 3 fatty acid chains covalently linked to a single glycerol molecule, we've then created a triglyceride.

And so over here on the right, we have the triglyceride. Now, of course, if we wanted to break down the triglyceride into its separate components like what we see over here, then of course we're going to need the hydrolysis reaction. And so the hydrolysis reaction is of course going to use water to break apart the triglyceride into its smaller components. Triglycerides are going to be a main source of fats. This is how fats are stored in animal cells and the fats that we have are stored as triglycerides.

And so this here concludes our introduction to triglycerides. And once again, we'll be able to get some practice applying these concepts as we move forward in our course. So I'll see you all in our next video.