Glendale Community College Â· 6000 West Olive Avenue Â· Glendale Arizona 85302 Â· (623) 845-3000. Glendale Community College - North Campus Â· 5727 West Happy Valley Road Â· Phoenix Arizona 85310 Â· (623) 888-7000. Legal Disclaimer | Accreditation | Policies & Disclosures.
The Cell Membrane is a Fluid Mosaic. A cell is the basic unit of life, and all organisms are made up of one or many cells. One of the things that all cells have in common is a cell membrane. It is a barrier that separates a cell from its surrounding environment. This outer boundary of the cell is also called the plasma membrane.
The fluid mosaic model describes the structure of a cell membrane. It indicates that the cell membrane is not solid. It is flexible and has a similar consistency to vegetable oil, so all the individual molecules are just floating in a fluid medium, and they are all capable of moving sideways within the cell membrane. Mosaic refers to something that contains many different parts. The plasma membrane is a mosaic of phospholipids, cholesterol molecules, proteins and carbohydrates. Phospholipids Phospholipids make up the basic structure of a cell membrane. A single phospholipid molecule has two different ends: a head and a tail. The head