Water Flashcards
What does water do?
- it gives support e.g. to plant cells
- it’s transparent so allows visibility and can photosynthesise
- ice is less dense than water so ice floats, large bodies of water will not float.
Water is a metabolite
It’s in many metabolic reactions including condensation and hydrolysis reactions.
Why is water an important solvent?
It’s a important solvent in which metabolic reactions occur and for the transport of ions.
Water has a high heat capacity
So lots of energy is needed to heat up water therefore it maintains a stable temperature e.g. in the body.
Water had a large latent heat of vaporisation
Lots of energy is needed to break hydrogen bonds, this produces a cooling effect with little load of aster through evaporation e.g. sweating and transpiration.
What is cohesion?
Water has cohesion between water molecules therefore water can travel up xylem vessels in unbroken columns.
What is adhesion?
Water has adhesion between water molecules and other polar molecules, it aids cohesion. Water is polar.
Water has surface tension
Where water meets air, this allows the use of the water surface as a habitat for e.g. pond skaters. Those water molecules in the surface are not affected by molecules above them and therefore pull together more strongly effectively resembling a stretched membrane.