Step 1: Saturated fatty acids are often named and counted by their carbon chain length, capric (C10), lauric (C12), myristic (C14), palmitic (C16) and stearic (C18) acids form a familiar even-numbered series.
Step 2: Lauric acid sits at the 12-carbon position in this series, abundant in coconut and palm kernel oils, and is written as C12H24O2.
Step 3: Matching the acid name to its chain length in this series confirms the answer is 12 carbons.