Inorganic ions and water

What do nitrate ions do

They are required to make DNA and amino acids

What do calcium ions do

They are needed to form calcium lecture for the middle lamellae

What do phosphate ions do

Required to make ADP and ATP, affect water potential, join nucleotides in phosphodiester

What do magnesium ions do

Produce chlorophyll

What do iron ions do

Found in haemoglobin in red blood cells their job is to combine oxygen to form oxyhaemoglobin

What do sodium ions do

Used in the digestion of glucose and amino acids into cells, creates a sodium diffusion gradient, affect water potential, essential for nerves transmission

What’s key about inorganic ions

Don’t contain carbon, have a charge (anion, cation)

What’s key about hydrogen bonds

Each hydrogen shares a pair of electrons with oxygen and oxygen has a greater affinity for electrons than hydrogen so it pulls electrons closer, making oxygen slightly negative (delta-), creating different charged regions making water a polar molecule, as it has 2 charged regions (dipoles)

Explain water being a solvent

Allows to transport molecules, the positive end of water will be attracted to the positive ion, meaning the ions will become surrounded by water molecules

Explain water being high specific heat capacity

Lots of energy needed to overcome hydrogen bonds, meaning aquatic habitats have more stables temperatures than land animals, it is also easier for mammals to maintain a stable internal temperature despite fluctuations in surrounding temp

Explain surface tension of water

Cohesion is the attraction between molecules of the same type because they are polar, strong cohesion helps water to flow, this is how water travels in columns up the xylem, at an air water interface cohesion between water molecules results in high surface tension, outermost molecules of water form hydrogen bonds with water molecule below them, giving high surface tension

Explain latent heat vaporisation of water

Lots of energy to break hydrogen bonds between water molecules, water has high latent heat as lots of energy is used up when water evaporates, this is useful as organisms can use evaporation to cool down.

Explain metabolite of water

Many metabolic reactions involve a condensation or hydrolysis reaction, hydrolysis requires water to break chemical bonds, condensation releases water as a new bond is formed