stearic acid: Quick Facts

Written and fact-checked by

The Information Architects of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Facts

Also Known As	octadecanoic acid • n-octadecanoic acid

Photos

Diagram showing the structural formula of stearic acid, a lipid, with a carboxyl group at one end and a long hydrocarbon chain labeled along the molecule.

A composite diagram shows the structural formulas, space-filling models, and simplified depictions of lipid molecules including stearic acid and phosphatidylcholine, and how these assemble into a micelle and lipid bilayer, with labels identifying hydrophilic heads and hydrophobic tails.

See All Images →

Topics

stearin Fatty acid saturated fat unsaturated fat Oleic acid acetic acid formic acid butyric acid Prostaglandin