Water Flashcards

You may prefer our related Brainscape-certified flashcards:
1
Q

describe the polarity of a water molecule

A
  • dipolar molecule > has two charged ends
    hydrogen is slightly positive
    oxygens are slightly negative
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

why is water a good solvent

A
  • water is polar
  • so it is a good solvent for polar substances
  • negatively charged atoms in substances will be attracted to the hydrogen
  • positively charged atoms will be attracted to the oxygen
  • this means the substance breaks apart
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

which substances can water not dissolve

A

non-polar
e.g. lipids

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

why does water have a high specific heat capacity

A
  • it has many hydrogen bonds
  • although they are weak, there are lots of them
  • the large number of bonds to break requires a lot of energy / heat
  • therefore the heat being transferred to water is used up in breaking the bonds first, before the particles can gain kinetic energy
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

what is the advantage to living organisms for water having a high specific heat capacity

A
  • living organisms have a high specific heat capacity > due to lots of water within the organisms
  • this means that a lot of the heat is absorbed by the water without the temperature of it changing too much
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

why is the high specific heat capacity of water an advantage to aquatic organisms

A
  • large bodies of water such as the ocean dont change temperature as quickly or highly as the air
  • this provides aquatic organisms with an environment where temp changes are very small and gradual
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

why does water have a high latent heat of vaporisation

A
  • water has a lot of hydrogen bonds which take a lot of energy to break
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

why is a high latent heat of vaporisation advantageous to organisms

A
  • water provides a cooling effect
  • humans sweat > water released onto skin > heat from skins surface is transferred to the water (sweat) to evaporate it
  • this removes heat from the organisms and therefore cools it down
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

why does water have cohesion

A

hydrogen bonding between the S- O and S+ H between molecules

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

why is cohesion advantageous to organisms

A
  • supports transpiration in plants > continuous column of water
  • surface tension in water > provides organisms with a habitat away from predators with the water
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

why is water classed as a metabolite

A
  • involved in many reactions such as hydrolysis and condensation etc
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly