How many ATP molecules can the cells of our body actually generate when they completely oxidize and break down fatty acids? Now, the answer to this question actually varies and it depends on the length of that hydrocarbon chain within that particular fatty acid. And so as our example, we're going to use the most common fatty acid that we find in humans known as palmitic acid. And palmitic acid contains 16 carbons within that particular hydrocarbon chain. Now remember that each time a fatty acid undergoes a beta oxidation process, we shorten that fatty acid by two carbon atoms. And so what that means is because we have 16 carbon atoms within palmitic acid, more specifically, within the activated version of palmitic acid we call palmitoyl coenzyme A, then that means a total of seven cycles of beta oxidation will basically cleave the molecule and break it down into acetyl coenzyme A units.