Properties of Water Flashcards
Surface Tension
When the surface of the water behaves like an “elastic sheet”.
Molecules in the bulk of the liquid are affected by various intermolecular forces of attraction.
Molecules on the surface are not affected by above them, therefore they “pull” together strongly resembling a stretched membrane.
EG: Pond skaters live on the surface of the water as surface tension allows them to float along the surface.
Cohesion
When water molecules show a strong attraction to one another.
This is dues to hydrogen bonding between adjacent water molecules.
Cohesion between water molecules allow water to move up the xylem vessels, bringing water to leaves for photosynthesis in transpiration.
Specific Heat Capacity
Water has a high specific heat capacity, meaning that it can absorb large amounts of heat before its temperature raises by a significant amount.
This makes water resilient to fluctuations in temperature.
This means that organisms in lakes/ ponds do not experience extreme temperatures as these temperatures could denature enzymes which are essential for life processes.
