Water

Why is water important in reactions?

Water is included in many reactions in the body, such as hydrolysis and condensation

Why is water being a solvent a useful property?

most metabolic reactions take place in a solution

Why does water have a high specific heat capacity and why is it helpful?

Water sticks together with hydrogen bonds, so it takes more energy to break the bonds rather than heating the water molecules; this helps buffer against sudden temperature changes

Why is water’s high specific heat capacity important for organisms?

It keeps conditions stable for enzymes and cellular processes, counteracts rapid temperature changes

What is latent heat of vaporisation in water?

Hydrogen bonding gives water a high latent heat of vaporisation, meaning it requires a lot of energy to turn liquid into gas

Why is high latent heat of vaporisation useful for organisms?

It allows sweating to cool organisms down as sweat evaporates

What is cohesion in water?

Water molecules stick together because they are polar, creating cohesion

Why is cohesion important in water?

It helps water flow, e.g., in the transpiration stream in plants

What is surface tension in water?

Strong cohesion at the surface creates high surface tension, allowing small insects to walk on water and sweat to form droplets

Why is water polar?

Oxygen is more electronegative than hydrogen, so it pulls the shared electrons closer, giving oxygen a slightly negative charge and hydrogen a slightly positive charge

What is hydrogen bonding in water?

Occurs between a slightly positive hydrogen atom in one molecule and a slightly negative oxygen atom in another molecule