Biological Molecules (water) Flashcards
What is special about water
Water is the only molecule that can be present in all states at one time
What is the structure of water
Each hydrogen shares a pair of electrons with the oxygen
What does oxygen have a higher affinity for
The oxygen has a greater affinity for electrons than the hydrogens, so it pulls them closer.
What does oxygen having a higher affinity mean
The oxygen becomes slightly negative and the hydrogen slightly positive. This creates different charged regions making it a polar molecule.
What do the different charges in water result in
The slightly negative charged oxygen on one water molecule attracts the slightly positive hydrogen of another water molecule.
Draw 2 water molecules together
DRAW IT
What is water at room temperature
Water is a liquid at room temperature not a gas.
Why is water being a liquid at room temperature useful for organisms
It’s a habitat for aquatic organisms - oxygen/nutrients can circulate, organisms can float as water is a similar density to living organisms
It’s an effective transport medium
It’s a medium for chemical reactions
What happens when a polar molecule is dissolved in water
The water molecules form a layer around the ions and breaks the ionic substance apart.
What are lipids an example of
Non polar molecules
Why do non polar molecules not dissolve in water
They don’t dissolve in the water because they don’t attract to the water molecules.
What do the different parts of the water molecules do to the ions
The slightly positively charged hydrogen attracts to the negatively charged ions and the slightly negative charged oxygen attracts to the positively charged ions.
What does the attraction between ions and water molecules do
Separates the molecules forming a solution
What does the property allow water to be
To act as a medium for chemical reactions in cells transporting dissolved molecules around living organisms.
What happens to the density of water as it freezes
It decreases