A double bond in an unsaturated fatty acid tail bends the carbon chain by approximately how much?

1. Unsaturated fatty acids do not contain a maximal number of hydrogen atoms and do contain double bonds between adjacent carbons. 2. A double bond results in a bend in the string of carbons of approximately 30 degrees. 3. This bend is the kink that elbows adjacent phospholipid molecules away and preserves elbow room. 4. A bend of only about 10 degrees would leave the tails nearly straight and could not create that spacing. 5. A bend of 90 or 180 degrees would fold the tail back on itself, which is not how a single double bond behaves. 6. That 30 degree kink is why unsaturated tails keep a membrane fluid at temperatures where saturated tails would solidify. _Source: OpenStax Biology (1st ed., CC BY 4.0), Ch 5 "Structure and Function of Plasma Membranes", section 5.1 Components and Structure_