Water and its Physical and Solvent Properties

Vocabulary practice flashcards covering the physical, thermal, cohesive, adhesive, and solvent properties of water, as well as the origin of water on Earth.

Buoyancy

A vertical force provided by any fluid when an object is placed on or in it.

Viscosity

A fluid's resistance to flow.

Thermal conductivity

The measure of how easily heat flows through a specific type of material.

Specific heat capacity

The amount of energy required to raise the temperature of $1\,\text{kg}$ of a substance by $1\,^\circ\text{C}$.

Thermal cushion

A protective temperature stabilizing effect provided by water's high specific heat capacity, preventing large temperature fluctuations inside living cells.

Carbonaceous meteorites

Meteorites that can contain up to $28\%$ water and share a similar water composition to Earth's ocean water, serving as evidence for the extraterrestrial origin of Earth's water.

Polar molecule

An electrically neutral molecule, such as water, that possesses an unequal sharing of electrons, creating a partial negative charge on the oxygen atom and a partial positive charge on the hydrogen atoms.

Hydrogen bond

An attractive force formed when the positively charged hydrogen atom of one water molecule is attracted to the negatively charged oxygen atom of a nearby water molecule or another charged ion or atom.

Cohesion

The intermolecular attraction where hydrogen bonding holds water molecules together in a continuous network.

Surface tension

The enhanced attraction of water molecules to one another at the water-air interface compared to the air, creating a strong surface that allows certain small organisms to walk on water.

Adhesion

The property by which individual water molecules cling to surrounding materials and surfaces, such as plant xylem vessels.

Meniscus

The curved surface of a liquid formed when the adhesion of water to the sides of a container or tube creates an upward force on the edges of the liquid.

Capillary action

The process by which water is drawn upward in a narrow tube against gravity because the adhesive forces to the walls are stronger than the cohesive forces between water molecules.

Transpiration

The evaporation of water through stomata on the underside of a leaf, creating a low-pressure area that pulls water columns upward through xylem vessels.

Cellulose

A polar plant cell wall material to which water molecules adhere via hydrogen bonds, preventing the water column inside xylem vessels from breaking.

Solvent

The dissolving agent in a solution capable of carrying one or more solutes.

Solute

The substance that is dissolved by a solvent.

Aqueous solution

Any solution in which water acts as the solvent.

Hydrophilic

"Water loving" substances, such as ionic compounds and polar organic molecules, that dissolve readily in water.

Hydrophobic

"Water fearing" non-polar substances, such as lipids and steroid hormones, that do not dissolve in water.

Solvation

The process (also known as hydration) involving three steps: separation of solute particles, separation of water molecules, and combination of solute and solvent particles into a solution.

Ion-dipole forces

Attractive forces formed when the partially charged poles of polar water molecules orient toward and surround an ion during dissolution.

Phospholipids

Molecules that make up the cell membrane, whose hydrophobic sections orient inward to form the internal structure of the membrane.