3.1.7 Water

• What are the important properties of Water

  • Metabolite
  • Solvent
  • High Specific Heat Capacity
  • Relatively Large Latent Heat of Vapourisation
  • Strong Cohesion
• Water as a Metabolite

  Used in many metabolic reactions

  • Condensation & Hydrolysis
• Water as a Solvent

  In which metabolic reactions occur

  • Gases, waste products, and enzymes readily diffuse into it
• Water having a Relatively High Specific Heat Capacity

  Acts as a buffer

  • H-bonds between water molecules require a lot of energy to break
  • Minimises temperature fluctuations
• Water having a Relatively Large Latent Heat of Vaporisation

  Provides a cooling effect with little loss of water by evaporation

  • H-bonds between water molecules require a lot of energy to break
• Strong Cohesion of Water

  Enables effective transport of water

  • Strong cohesion supports columns of water in tube-like transport cells
  • High surface tension in water-air boundary.