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Advanced Biology

Water
Overview: The Molecule That Supports All
of Life

– Water is the biological medium here on Earth

– All living organisms require water more than


any other substance
Three-quarters of the Earth’s surface is
submerged in water
The abundance of water is the main
reason the Earth is habitable
The polarity of water molecules
– Allows them to form hydrogen bonds with each
other
– Contributes to the various properties water
exhibits

δ–
+ Hydrogen
H bonds

δ– o
+ H
δ– +
+ δ–

3.1
Emergent Properties of Water
Cohesion and Adhesion
Moderation of Temperature
Ice Floats on Water
Water is the Solvent of Life

3.2
Cohesion and Adhesion
Cohesion
– Is the bonding of a high percentage of the
molecules to neighboring water molecules
– Is due to hydrogen bonding
Adhesion
– Is the clinging of one substance to another
– Is due to hydrogen bonding

3.3
Moderation of Temperature
Heat
– Is a measure of the total amount of kinetic
energy due to molecular motion
Temperature
– Measures the intensity of heat
The specific heat of a substance
– Is the amount of heat that must be absorbed
or lost for 1 gram of that substance to change
its temperature by 1ºC

3.4
Water’s Specific Heat
Water has a high specific heat
– Hydrogen bonds store energy transferred to
them as heat

– The immense number of hydrogen bonds in


water allow it store a LOT of heat

– This allows water to minimize temperature


fluctuations
3.4
What does this mean to us?
Evaporative cooling – as we sweat heat is
released as hydrogen bonds break

Oceans stabilize the Earth’s temperature


with their ability to store immense amounts
of heat
– This has direct effects on the weather (El
Nino/La Nina, costal winds etc…)
Ice Floats
Ice is less dense than water
– The hydrogen bonds in ice are more
“ordered” than in liquid water, making ice
less dense

Hydrogen
bonds
Ice Liquid water
Hydrogen bonds are stable Hydrogen bonds
constantly break and re-form

3.5
???
H 2 O is cohesive
because it readily
hydrogen bonds with
water molecules
around it. Water
droplets are, therefore,
attracted other
droplets such as those
in the picture at left.

3.6
???

Water’s ability to become more ordered (and thus expand) as


its temperature falls and its hydrogen bonds become more
stable makes it less dense than water and able to float.

3.6
???

Oceans store an immense amount of heat in the form of hydrogen


bonds. The heat stored around the equator is transferred to the poles
by ocean currents.

3.6
Water as a Solvent
The different regions of the polar water molecule can
interact with ionic compounds called solutes and
dissolve them
Negative –
oxygen regions Na+
+ +
of polar water –

molecules are +
– –
attracted to sodium Na +

cations (Na+). +
+ –
Cl– Cl

+ –

+ –

+ –

Positive
hydrogen regions
of water molecules
cling to chloride
anions (Cl–).
Solutions, solvent and solutes
SOLUTION – a liquid homogeneous mixture made
of solvent and solutes

SOLUTE –

SOLVENT – Na+
+ The substance
The dissolving + –

agent of the + dissolved by


solution (in – – the solvent
biology it is Na +
(water)

usually water) + +
Cl– Cl –
+ –

+ –

+

3.7
Hydrophilic vs. Hydrophobic
– philios –Greek for “loving”
– phobos –Greek for “fearing”

Hydrophilic substances are attracted to


water because they are polar
Hydrophobic substances are non-polar
and have little affinity for water

3.8
Water Dissociation (separation)

(produces)
+ -
H 2O H + OH

Hydrogen Ion Hydroxide Ion

-7
Concentration: 10
-7
M 10 M

3.9
M = Molar = Moles per liter
Acids and Bases
Acids – a substance that increases
hydrogen ion concentration in solution

Bases – a substance that increases the


hydroxide ion concentration in solution

+ -
H increasing increasing OH

3.10
pH
This scale is used to relate the amount of
hydrogen and hydroxide ions in an aqueous
(water) solution
+
pH = - log [H ]
+ - -7
pH 7 = [H ] = [OH ] = 10
Changing pH by 1 is a ten fold change in ion
concentration
0

1 Battery acid

Increasingly Acidic
2 Digestive (stomach)

[H+] > [OH–]


juice, lemon juice
3 Vinegar, beer, wine,
cola
4 Tomato juice

pH 5 Black coffee
Rainwater
6 Urine

Neutral 7 Pure water

Scale
[H+] = [OH–] Human blood
8
Seawater
9
Increasingly Basic
[H+] < [OH–]

10
Milk of magnesia
11
Household ammonia
12
Household bleach
13
Oven cleaner 3.10
14
Buffers
Buffers minimize changes in pH in a
+ -
solution by bonding to H or OH ions.

(basic)
When pH rises
H2CO3 HCO3- + H+
When pH drops
(acidic)
???
Respiratory Alkalosis
– Caused by an inability to exhale CO
– Common in COPD (emphysema)

+
CO2 + H HCO3-
(basic)
When pH rises
H2CO3 HCO3- + H+
When pH drops
(acidic)
3.11

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