3.1.7 Water Flashcards
Q: What role does water play in metabolic reactions?
A: Water is a metabolite in many metabolic reactions, including condensation and hydrolysis reactions.
Q: Why is water considered an important solvent in biological systems?
A: Water is an important solvent because it is where many metabolic reactions occur.
Q: How does water’s high heat capacity benefit living organisms?
A: Water’s high heat capacity helps buffer changes in temperature, maintaining stable conditions for biological processes.
Q: What is the significance of water’s latent heat of vaporisation in living organisms?
A: Water’s relatively large latent heat of vaporisation provides a cooling effect with minimal loss of water through evaporation.
Q: How does water’s cohesion affect plant physiology?
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A: Water has strong cohesion between molecules, which supports columns of water in tube-like transport cells of plants
Q: What is the role of water’s surface tension in biological systems?
A: Water’s strong cohesion creates surface tension, which affects interactions at the water-air interface.
