Phospholipid bilayer

The phospholipid bilayer - rotatable in 3 dimensions

The cell membrane is based on a double layer (bilayer) of phospholipid molecules.

This model represents a section of a lipid bilayer, but it is static so that the fluid mosaic model is not shown. There are also no proteins in the bilayer.

The top and bottom layers are mirror images of one another.

This model shows about 100 phospholipid units, consisting of 3744 atoms, but omitting hydrogen atoms which surround the tails of the fatty acids, and the phosphate heads.