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Biological Significance of Water Properties

Water has several important physical properties that are essential for life. It has a high specific heat capacity and latent heat of vaporization due to the presence of hydrogen bonds between molecules. This allows water to buffer temperature changes and regulate evaporation. Water also has an anomalously high boiling point for a compound of hydrogen and oxygen due to these hydrogen bonds. Additionally, ice floats on liquid water, enabling aquatic life to survive freezing temperatures, due to its lower density when water molecules are locked into a rigid crystal structure. These unique properties of water are crucial for moderating Earth's climate and facilitating biochemical reactions in living organisms.

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Charlotte B.
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126 views2 pages

Biological Significance of Water Properties

Water has several important physical properties that are essential for life. It has a high specific heat capacity and latent heat of vaporization due to the presence of hydrogen bonds between molecules. This allows water to buffer temperature changes and regulate evaporation. Water also has an anomalously high boiling point for a compound of hydrogen and oxygen due to these hydrogen bonds. Additionally, ice floats on liquid water, enabling aquatic life to survive freezing temperatures, due to its lower density when water molecules are locked into a rigid crystal structure. These unique properties of water are crucial for moderating Earth's climate and facilitating biochemical reactions in living organisms.

Uploaded by

Charlotte B.
Copyright
© All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

The properties of Water

1. Use the terms below to fill the gaps above: You can use some words more than once.
Specific Heat Capacity, hydrogen bonds, attraction, same, strong, 4C, energy, kJ 1C, high
chloride
Latent Heat of Vaporisation, density, floats, 4, hydrogen-bonded, less, fewer, liquid gaseous,
different sodium

2. Use the additional sheet to match the biological significance to each physical property.

Physical Property of water Biological Importance


Water is Polar – it is known as the universal solvent 1.
as it dissolves more substances than any other liquid.
It forms a shell around ions (as below) and makes H
bonds with polar solutes. 2.
________ _________

3.

Water molecule
4.

Sodium chloride dissolving in water

High S________ H______ C________: 1.


SHC = The amount of heat ________ (___) required
to raise the temperature of 1 kg of a substance by
____C 2.

This is ________ for water because of the presence


of _________ _______. 3.

4.

High L_______ H______ of V____________: 1. Water as __________:


LHV = The amount of heat ________ required to a)
turn 1 kg of a substance in _________ state to b)
__________ state. c)

This is ________ for water because of the 2.


__________ ________ between the molecules.

Density of ice and water: 1.


In ice, each water molecule is _______-_______ to a
maximum number (___) of other water molecules.
The properties of Water

The crystal structure formed requires water


molecules to move further apart from each other. 2.
Therefore, there are ________ water molecules in a
given space than in liquid water. This makes ice
_____ dense than water (ice has a lower _________
than water) and it ________ on water. 3.
The highest density of water is at _____C. As ice
melts, this cold dense water sinks below the water
underneath and creates currents.
Cohesive forces / cohesion tension: 1.
Cohesive forces are the forces of __________
between molecules of the ________ kind. These are
________ for water because of the presence of
___________ ________.

Adhesive forces / Adhesion: 1.


The attraction of molecules of one kind for molecules
of a different kind. eg between water and xylem
vessels.

This allows for capillarity.


Surface tension: 1.
This is the property of the surface of a liquid that
allows it to resist an external force. It is formed on
water due to the high cohesive forces (due to the
________ ________) between water molecules

TEST yourself.
Can you;
 Explain what the term ‘Polar’ means?
 Give 4 reasons why water is important ?
 State what a solvent does?
 Explain why ice is less dense that liquid water at 0oC?
 Describe what happens when sodium chloride dissolves in water?
 Suggest why glucose doesn’t break down when it dissolves in
water?

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