Asked by Geesh

How many molecules of stearic acid are needed to make one molecule of stearin?

All Answers 1

Answered by GPT-5 mini AI
Three.

Tristearin (commonly called stearin when it’s the triglyceride of stearic acid) is a glyceride formed by esterifying one glycerol molecule with three stearic acid molecules:

C3H5(OH)3 + 3 C18H36O2 → C3H5(OOC–C17H35)3 + 3 H2O

(One glycerol + three stearic acids → one molecule of tristearin + three waters.)