polar
nonpolar
Dodecylphosphocholine (DPC) is an example of a detergent, an anphipathic molecule that in aqueous media tends to form micelles.
In these, the hydrophobic (nonpolar) parts are isolated away from water contact, while the hydrophylic (polar) parts form the surface of the micelle, contacting water.
The image of the micelle is used here by explicit permission of Prof. Jason Engbrecht (St. Olaf College, USA)
The molecular model was obtained by computation. Its author is Prof. Peter Tieleman (University of Calgary, Canada). Reference:
D.P. Tieleman, D. van der Spoel, H.J.C. Berendsen (2000) Molecular dynamics simulations of dodecylphosphocholine micelles at three different aggregate sizes: micellar structure and lipid chain relaxation. J. Phys. Chem. B 104:6380-6388. doi:10.1021/jp001268f
Model was modified by W. McClure and A. Herráez