Water

Question 1

What type of molecule is water?

Answer 1

A dipolar ( di meaning two and polar referring to charges ).

Question 2

What type of charge does water have?

Answer 2

Water has an unevenly distributed charge due to the fact that the oxygen atom is slightly negative and the hydrogen atoms are slightly positive.

Question 3

What are the 5 key properties of water?

Answer 3

1.It is a metabolite
2. An important solute in reactions.
3.I t has a high heat capacity.
4. It has a large latent heat of vaporization.
5. Has a strong cohesion between water molecules.

Question 4

Explain further the function of water being metabolite.

Answer 4

• water is involved in many reactions, such as photosynthesis, hydrolysis and condensation reactions.
• one reason why it is essential is because approximately 90% of the plasma in blood is water and the cytoplasm in cells is largely composed of water.

Question 5

Explain further the function of water being a good solvent.

Answer 5

This means many substances dissolve in it. Polar, or charged, molecules dissolve readily in water due to the fact water is dipolar. The slight positive charge on hydrogen atoms will attract any negative ions solutes and the slight negative charge on oxygen atoms will attract any positive ions in solutes. These polar molecules are often described as hydrophilic meaning they are attracted to water.

Non - polar molecules, such as lipids, cannot dissolve in water and are therefore described as hydrophobic - they are repelled by water.