Water Flashcards
What is the structure of water?
60 - 70% of your body 15 water
Dipolar molecule. 2 diff regions that are charged
unevenly distributed charge due to the fact oxygen is slightly negative and hydrogen are slightly positive
Delta = slightly positive/negative
What are the five key properties of water?
It is a metabolite
It’s an important solvent in reactions
Has a high heat capacity (buffers temperature)
Has a large latent heat of vaporisation -calling effect with loss of water through evaporation
Strong cohesion between water molecules -Supports water columns and provides surface tension 
Water being a metabolite.
Involved in many reactions; photosynthesis, hydrolysis and condensation
this explains why 90% of the plasma is water and most of the blood is plasma
Water as a solvent
Many substances dissolve in it due to the fact it is dipolar
Attract negative and positive ions in solutes
The polar molecules are described as hydrophilic(attracted to water )
enables polar substances to be ansported easily to the cell they are needed in

Water having high specific heat capacity.
A lot of energy is required to raise the temp as some heat energy is used to break hydrogen bonds between water molecules
Temperature of water remain stable even if the surrounding temperature fluctuates
This is important so the enzymes do not denature or reduce activity with temperature fluctuations
Provide a stable environment for aquatic organisms
Water having a large latent heat of vaporisation,
A lot of energy required to convert water into from liquid state to a gaseous state as energies needed to break hydrogen bonds
This creates a cooling effect in organisms Eg sweating
Water having strong cohesion
Water molecules sticking together by hydrogen bonds
Means water can move up the xylem in plants due in a continuous column of water instead of a droplet at a time
Provide surface tension allows small invertebrates to move and live on the surface away from predators.
