Water and plant transport

• Properties of water:

  • polar
  • hydrogen bonding
• Polar covalent bonds form between a more negative oxygen and hydrogen
• How water travels up the xylem:

  • Cohesion- water molecules tend to stick to each other
  • Adhesion- water molecules stick to the inside of the xylem
• Cohesion tension theory:

  • positive and negative charged poles lie next to each other
  • causes molecules to cohere
  • as some molecules leave a plant, others are pulled up behind