Triacylglycerol (also called a fat or triglyceride) is a type of lipid. Amino acids are the subunits that make up proteins. Chitin and cellulose are polysaccharides, or carbohydrates.

Structurally speaking, a triglyceride molecule contains three fatty acid chains covalently bonded to glycerol—specifically where the hydroxyl groups are located on the glycerol molecule.

The term saturated when describing a lipid means that a molecule has the maximum number of hydrogens on its carbons, it is saturated with hydrogens. An unsaturated lipid has less than the maximum amount of hydrogens bonded to its carbons because there is a double bond between two of the carbons. Lipids molecules can have one carbon to carbon double bond (mono-unsaturated) or multiple (poly-unsaturated).

Fatty acids occur as free molecules in trace amounts in living organisms. They usually occur as a component of several types of lipid molecules, and are not true monomers, even though 1-3 of them can be attached to a polar head group such as glycerol or a phosphate group. The rest of the choices listed form polymers. Amino acids form proteins, sugars such as glucose form carbohydrates, and nucleotides form both DNA and RNA.

Lipids can be used as an energy source and are often used by cells to store energy for future use. Phosphate groups are not found in all lipids. For example most steroids, which are lipids, do not have phosphate groups. Lipids are hydrophobic and are repelled by water.

In saturated fats, the carbons have single bonds between them and the maximum number of hydrogen atoms.  Saturated fats do not have nitrogen, and they are solid at room temperature.

Unsaturated fats have at least one double bond between two carbons in the fatty acid and do not have the maximum number of hydrogens.  They do not contain nitrogen and are usually liquid at room temperature.

Lipids are what make up fats. Fats store energy and help insulate animals against the cold. They also form lipid bilayers that surround cells and organelles. All steroid hormones are derived from cholesterol, a lipid. Thus, lipids play a significant role in signal transduction. Folding proteins is a function left to other proteins.

Cholesterol is a steroid and steroids are types of lipids. Cholesterol is common in animal cell membranes and works as a precursor for many other steroids and affects cell membrane fluidity.

A fatty acid is considered unsaturated if it contains one or more double bonds (indicated by the = sign). These double bonds occur between carbon atoms (represented as C). Be able to recognize the general structure of important macromolecules. Lipids rich in saturated fatty acids tend to be solids at room temperature (butter, lard, coconut oil).