Water#

• Water is a polar molecule due to uneven distribution of charge within the molecule

  – the hydrogen atoms are more positive than the oxygen atom causing one end of the

  molecule to be more positive than the other
• Water is a metabolite in metabolic reactions such as condensation and hydrolysis which

  are used in forming and breaking of chemical bond
• Water is a solvent in which many metabolic reactions occur
• Water has a high heat specific capacity meaning that a lot of energy is required to warm

  water up therefore minimising temperature fluctuations in living things therefore it

  acts as a buffe
• Water has a relatively large latent heat of vaporisation, meaning evaporation of water

  provides a cooling effect with little water loss
• Strong cohesions between water molecules enables effective transport of water in tube-like transport cells as the strong cohesion supports columns of water. As a result of

  strong cohesion the surface tension at the water-air boundary is high
• Maximum density of water is at 4 degrees – this means that ice is less dense than

  water and floats on top of it creating an insulating layer, this increases the chance of

  survival of organisms in large bodies of water as it prevents them from freezing
• Water is incompressible therefore it provides good support