Water

Question 1

Why is having a high specific heat capacity make water important for organisms

Answer 1

So buffers change in temp

Question 2

State and explain the property of water that helps to prevent temp increase in cells

Property -

Explanation -

2 marks

Answer 2

Property - high specific heat capacity

Explantation - buffers change in temp

Question 3

State and explain the property of water that can help buffer changes in temperature.

2 marks

Answer 3

1. High specific heat capacity
2. Can gain/ lose a lot of heat / energy without changing temperature
   Or
   Takes a lot of heat energy to to change temp

Question 4

Key points

Answer 4

. Water is a major component of cells.

. It has several properties that are important in biology.
In particular, water:

• is a metabolite in many metabolic reactions, including condensation and hydrolysis reactions

• is an important solvent in which metabolic reactions occur

• has a relatively high heat capacity, buffering changes in temperature

• has a relatively large latent heat of vaporisation, providing a cooling effect with little loss of water through evaporation

• has strong cohesion between water molecules; this supports columns of water in the tube-like transport cells of plants and produces surface tension where water meets air.

Question 5

What should you remember with questions involving the properties of water

Answer 5

Don’t just say polar or hydrogen bonding

1. Good solvent
2. Cohesive (hydrogen bonding)
3. Buffers changes in temp as high specific heat capacity