Vitamins are essential for the maintenance of good health.
Some vitamins are polar, and some are non-polar. Polarity is determined by the electrical charge of a molecule. A polar molecule has a positive charge at one end and a negative charge at the other, and a non-polar molecule does not.
Solubility
Knowing which vitamins are polar and non-polar will determine which are water soluble and which are fat soluble. Polarity predicts how well molecules will mix with other molecules. Polar molecules will combine with other polar molecules to form a solution, but not with non-polar molecules. The same is true in reverse -- non-polar molecules will mix with other non-polar molecules, but not with polar molecules. Water molecules are polar, and lipid molecules are not.
Polar Vitamins
Polar vitamins are water soluble. They have more polar groups than non-polar, and will mix with polar water molecules. Water soluble vitamins include B1 (Thiamin), B2 (Riboflavin), B3 (Niacin), B5 (Pantothenic Acid), B6 (Pyridoxine), B9 (Folic Acid), B12 (Cyanocobalamin), C (Ascorbic Acid) and H/B7 (Biotin).
Non-Polar Vitamins
Non-polar vitamins are fat soluble. They have few or no polar groups, so they blend with non-polar lipids, making them fat soluble. They are A (Retinol), D (Cholecalciferol), E (Alpha-Tocopherol) and K (Phytonadione).
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