Properties Of Water Flashcards
Components of blood
White blood cells, red blood cells, platelets and plasma
What is plasma made up of
Mainly water, contains dissolved substances eg glucose,carbon dioxide, AAs, salts, enzymes, hormones, antibodies and urea
Why is water a polar molecule
It has an unevenly distributed electrical charge
Which end of water molecule positive and negative and why
Hydrogen end of molecule slightly positive and oxygen end slightly negative as electrons more concentrated at that end.
How are water molecules bonded together
Hydrogen bonds between positively charged end which is attracted to negative end of surrounding water molecules. Each molecule can form 4 hydrogen bonds with other water molecules.
Why is water a good solvent
Due to its polar nature can interact with both positive and negative ions, can pull away ions with force of attraction and surround them which can dissolve crystals
What does water being a good solvent allow it to do
-acts as a transport medium, dissolved substances can be transported around organisms
-allows biochemical reactions to occur in the cytoplasm of cells , as substrates and reactants can be dissolved
-act as metabolite in hydrolysis reactions
Type of molecules that do not dissolve in water
Non-polar, hydrophobic substances
Does water have a low or high SHC and why does it have this
Has a very high SHC as a large amount of energy is required to break the hydrogen bonds
How does water act as a thermal regulator and why is this useful
Water warms up and cools down slowly=helps to avoid rapid changes in the internal temperature of organisms.
-bodies of water in which aquatic organisms live do not change temp rapidly
Is ice more or less dense than water and why is this helpful
Ice is less dense than water
-means bodies of ice reflect light energy and act as thermal insulating layer for water underneath(provides habitat for aquatic organisms in very cold regions)
Does water have a high or low SLH and why, why is this useful in sweating
Water has high SLH as it requires a lot of energy to break hydrogen bonds between water molecules.
-means that when we sweat a large amount of thermal energy is carried away from body as it evaporates off skin surface
Why is water cohesive and adhesive and why is this helpful
Hydrogen bonding allows water molecules to be cohesive and close enough to be liquid(rather than gas)
-helpful:surface of water has enough tension to act as habitat for small insects, allows water to move upwards through xylem as cohesive with sides of stem(so is transport medium in plants)
