Investigating Water

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Investigating Water

Water molecules are charged, with the oxygen atom being slightly

negative (d-) and the hydrogen atoms being slightly positive (d+).

These opposite charges attract each other, forming hydrogen bonds.

These are weak, long distance bonds that are very common and very

important in biology.

Water has a number of important properties essential for life. Many of

the properties below are due to the hydrogen bonds in water.

Solvent. Because it is charged, water is a very good solvent. Charged

or polar molecules such as salts, sugars, amino acids dissolve readily

in water and so are called hydrophilic ("water loving"). Uncharged or

non-polar molecules such as lipids do not dissolve so well in water

and are called hydrophobic ("water hating").

Specific heat capacity. Water has a specific heat capacity of 4.2 J,

which means that it takes 4.2 joules of energy to heat 1 g of water by

1°C. This is unusually high and it means that water does not change

temperature very easily. This minimises fluctuations in temperature

inside cells, and it also means that sea temperature is remarkably

constant.

Latent heat of vaporisation. Water requires a lot of energy to change

state from a liquid into a gas, and this is made use of as a cooling

mechanism in animals (sweating and panting) and plants

(transpiration). As water evaporates it extracts heat from around it,

cooling the organism.

Latent heat of fusion. Water also requires a lot of heat to change

state from a solid to a liquid, and must loose a lot of heat to change

state from a liquid to a solid. This means it is difficult to freeze

water, so ice crystals are less likely to form inside cells.

Density. Water is unique in that the solid state (ice) is less dense

that the liquid state, so ice floats on water. As the air temperature

cools, bodies of water freeze from the surface, forming a layer of ice

with liquid water underneath. This allows aquatic ecosystems to exist

even in sub-zero temperatures.

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