Water Flashcards
Describe the structure of a water molecule.
H2O - two hydrogen atoms bound to a single oxygen atom covalently
Name the properties of water that make it useful.
Metabolite
Solvent
High specific heat capacity
Large latent heat of vaporisation
Cohesion
Liquid
Density
Why is water being a metabolite important?
Reactant in fundamental metabolic reactions (e.g, condensation and hydrolysis reactions, photosynthesis) that keeps organisms alive
Why is water being a solvent important?
- They are able to dissolve ionic compounds easily because of there polarity
- Allows for a very diverse array of chemical reactions and many kinds of molecules can move freely in the cell
Why is water having a high SHC important?
Hydrogen bonds between molecules absorb energy
Therefore water doesn’t experience rapid temperature changes
Organisms are able to work at a constant optimum
Why is water having a large LHV important?
It takes a lot of thermal energy to break hydrogen bonds
Therefore water absorbs lots of energy before it turns into water vapour
Why is cohesion in water important?
The attraction of water molecules due to hydrogen bonding produces surface tension, which creates a habitat on the surface
it also enables continuous columns of water to be pulled up the xylem
Why is water being a liquid important?
Functions as a solvent
Allows chemical reactions to take place because molecules can move freely due to low viscosity
Why is water’s density important?
It allows for life in water to be possible, because bodies of water would not freeze over as ice is less dense than water due to hydrogen bonds fixing polar molecules slightly apart
