water + inorganic ions

• water is a metabolite in many metabolic reactions, including condensation and hydrolysis reactions
• water is an important solvent in which metabolic reactions occur
• water has a relatively high heat capacity, buffering changes in temperature
• water has a relatively large latent heat of vaporisation, providing a cooling effect with little loss of water through evaporation
• water has strong cohesion between water molecules; this supports columns of water in the tube-like transport cells of plants
• inorganic ions occur in solution in the cytoplasm and body fluids of organisms
• hydrogen ions are involved in the control of ph in the body- e.g; high H+ ion concentration=low ph
• iron ions form haem groups in haemoglobin which allows oxygen to bind to it
• sodium ions are involved co-transport for the absorption of glucose and amino acids in the small intestine
• phosphate ions are involved in the composition dna and atp