Laboratory report about water

and its properties

Biochemistry
West Visayas State University
7 pag.

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 Group No. 4 Date Viewed: September 20, 2020
Members: Date Submitted:
1. Hotic, Carlie
2. Gascon Allyssa Marie L.
3. Gregorio, Dana Marie D.
4. Ledesma, Marian
5. Marcera, Bea S.

Virtual Laboratory Experiment No. 1

Water and Its Properties

Introduction/Theory

Water is the most abundant compound on Earth’s surface. In nature, water

exists in the liquid, solid, and gaseous states. All organisms are composed
primarily of water, no organism, not even the prokaryotes, can develop and grow
without water. Being polar, water has unique properties and these include its
role as a solvent, as a chemical reactant, and as a factor to maintain a fairly
constant temperature. The main properties of water are its polarity, cohesion,
adhesion, surface tension, high specific heat, and evaporative cooling. Polar
species are soluble in water, while nonpolar species are soluble in oils and fats.
The solubility of a substance is the maximum amount of a solute that can
dissolve in a given quantity of solvent; it depends on the chemical nature of both
the solute and the solvent and on the temperature and pressure. It is with no
doubt that all living organisms require water for survival. For example, all
oxygen-dependent organisms need water to aid in the respiration process. The
way that it is utilized can be categorized in four different ways: as a solvent, as a
temperature buffer, as a metabolite and as a living environment.

I. Objectives:
1. To determine the properties of water that makes it a suitable medium
for sustaining life in the biological system.
2. To describe the solubility of substances in polar and nonpolar solvents.
3. To enumerate the functions of water in the living system.

II. Materials:

REAGENTS:

REAGENTS CHARACTERISTICS HAZARDS DISPOSAL

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Tap Water Water coming from None Poured down the
the tap sink

Deionized Water that has Possible skin Poured down the

Water removed almost all irritation sink
minerals

Coconut Oil Oil extracted from None Poured down the

coconut meat sink

Dish Soap A high-foaming Eye and skin Poured down the

detergent used as irritation sink
cleaning product for
dishes

Sugar Disaccharide Eye, skin, Poured down the

composed of respiratory and sink
glucose and digestive
fructose irritation

Sodium Compound of Eye, skin and Poured down the

Chloride sodium and digestive tract sink
chloride. Commonly irritation
known as salt.

Ethanol Colorless liquid with Respiratory, Stored in

extremely severe eye laboratory waste
flammable liquid irritation containers and
and vapor Has detrimental taken to disposal
effects on centers
gastrointestinal,
reproductive,
fetal and
central nervous
system

Iodine Black-violet solid Burns eyes, Stored in

that sublime easily skin and laboratory waste
to heat, releasing a digestive tract containers and
purple vapour. Can cause taken to disposal
pulmonary centers
edema and
affects thyroid
glands

Cyclohexane Colorless liquid with Eye, skin and Stored in

extremely respiratory laboratory waste
flammable liquid tract irritation containers and
and vapor Can cause taken to disposal
pneumonitis centers
and central
nervous system
depression
EQUIPMENT: ● Beaker
● Chromatography paper ● Graduated cylinder

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 ● Water-based marker ● Wax paper
● Penny ● Glass stirring rod
● Dropper or pipette ● Test tube
● Paper towel ● Test tube rack
● Pepper flakes ● Scoopula

III. Procedure:

A. Properties of Water

Activity 1

1. Get a strip of chromatography paper and using a marker draw a line in

between.

2. Fill the beaker with water and carefully fill the graduated cylinder with 15
milliliters of water.

3. Stick the chromatography paper down the water

4. Set aside and observe the paper from time to time.

Activity 2

1. Prepare a penny and place it on a flat surface.

2. Using a dropper, make droplets of water on the penny.

3. Count and observe the droplets of water on the penny until it overflows.

Activity 3

1. Put a few drop of dish soap in the bottom of a 50 milliliters beaker.

2. Add some tap water to make a soapy solution.

3. Using a dropper, make a droplets of solution on a penny.

4. Count and observe the droplets of water until it overflows.

Activity 4

1. Fill a half full of water on a 250 milliliter beaker.

2. Sprinkle some pepper on the water.

3. Observe the pepper for a couple minutes.

4. Add a few drops of dish soap and observe what happens to the pepper.

Activity 5

1. Using a dropper, make 10 drops of water on a wax paper.

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2. Using a glass stirring rod, gently separate the droplet of water into smaller
drops.

3. Slightly lift the paper and observe what happens.

B. Solubility of Substances in Polar and Non-Polar Solvents

1. Put a small amount of NaCl on two different test tube and label it. Do the
same with coconut oil, iodine, ethanol, and sugar.

2. Put the different solute on a test tube rack and the other same solute on the
other test tube rack.

3. On the first rack, add 1 milliliter of water on each solute.

4. Swirl the test tube vigorously to mix the solution and observe what happens
to the solution.

5. On the other rack, add 1 milliliter of cyclohexane on each test tube.

6. Swirl each test tube vigorously and observe what happens to the solution.

7. Compare the two solutions with different solvents.

8. On a separate test tube, mix the water and cyclohexane and observe the
solution.

IV. Virtual Laboratory Experiment

Video No. 1: Properties of Water

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tOQ_jN1jlwI

Video No. 2: Properties of Liquids

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_jQ1B9UwpU

Video No. 3: Solubility of Substances in Polar and Non-Polar Solvents

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gY805CmtCQo

V. Answers to Questions.

1. What properties of water and other liquids are exhibited in the first two
video experiments? Describe each.

In the first two videos, the following properties of water and other liquid
have been exhibited: cohesion, adhesion, capillary action, surface tension, and
viscosity. First, cohesion refers to the binding of molecules to other molecules of
the same nature, now water molecules have strong cohesive forces due to their
ability to form hydrogen bonds with each other -- which we have seen in the
penny experiment. On the other hand, the attraction of molecules of one kind to
molecules of another kind is called adhesion -- as seen in the behavior of water
droplets in the wax paper and when placed in another surface. Such property
helped the water to "climb" upwards through paper inserted in a graduated

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cylinder. This upward motion toward gravity relies on the attraction between
water molecules and paper (adhesion), as well as on the interactions between
water molecules (cohesion) is called the capillary action. Surface tension is a
phenomenon observed in the propensity of the surface of a liquid to resist
separation when subjected to stress or tension as seen in the water
incrementally dropped on the penny. And lastly, viscosity is mentioned in the
second video; viscosity is defined as the resistance to flow as is usually referred
to as the “thickness” of liquid.

2. Describe solubility in both solvents as soluble, slightly soluble and

insoluble.

Substances Solubility in Water Solubility in

Cyclohexane
NaCl Soluble Insoluble
Coconut oil Slightly soluble Insoluble
Iodine Slightly soluble Soluble
Ethanol Soluble Insoluble
Sugar Soluble Insoluble
Water N/A Insoluble
Cyclohexane Insoluble N/A

3. Based on your observations, which solvent dissolves more substance?

Explain.

Based on observations with the given data, water as a solvent dissolves

more
substances. As seen on the table above, it lists almost all substances as soluble
when mixed with water in contrast to the number of “insoluble” results listed
under cyclohexane when used as a solvent.

4. Enumerate the different functions of water in living systems.

Water is life’s essential need. Human body alone is made up of 60%-

80% water.
For organisms, water has multiple applications: mainly, it can be categorized in
four different ways: as a solvent, as a temperature buffer, as a metabolite and as
a living environment. As a solvent, the existence of the chemical bonds in water
attracts both positive and negative ions. Positive ions are therefore attracted to
oxygen in water, while hydrogen is drawn to negative ions, allowing water to
dissolve compounds necessary for survival. Water has a high specific heat
capacity so it takes a lot of heat to raise its temperature enabling the water to
absorb heat without the temperature of the organism being raised, preventing
enzymes from becoming overheated and failing to function. Water is also a
metabolite, or something that is involved in reactions. In this way, it makes
continued survival possible for both plants and animals. Lastly, water serves as a
living environment, offering shelter to aquatics animals.

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 5. Explain why water is a good solvent.

It is the chemical structure and physical properties of water that make it

such an exceptional solvent. Water molecules have a polar structure of oxygen
and hydrogen atoms, with a positive electrical charge on one side (hydrogen),
and a negative charge on the other side (oxygen). This enables many other
various forms of molecules to become responsive to the water molecule.

VI. Conclusion

Nothing can survive in this planet without water, it composes 70% of the
surface and 60% of our bodies are composed of nothing but water. In conclusion
water’s abundance is only one reason life depends on it so much because water
is has a lot of amazing properties that make it an ideal substrate for life. The
emergent properties of water that makes it a suitable medium for sustaining life
in the biological system are its cohesion, adhesion, capillary action, and surface
tension and viscosity properties. Hydrogen bonding keeps the water molecules
close to each other, and this cohesion helps pull water upward in the microscopic
water –conducting cells of plants. Hydrogen bonding is also responsible for
water’s surface tension. Water has a high specific heat: Heat is absorbed when
hydrogen bonds break and is released when hydrogen bonds form. This helps
keep temperatures relatively steady, within limits that permit life. Evaporation
cooling is based on water’s high heat of vaporization. The evaporative loss of the
most energetic water molecules cools a surface. Ice floats because it less dense
than liquid water. This allows life to exist under the frozen surfaces of lakes and
polar seas. Water is also unusually versatile solvent because its polar molecules
are attracted to charged and polar substances capable of forming hydrogen
bonds. These emergent properties of water support life on Earth and may
contribute to the potential for life to have evolved on other planets.

Polar substances tend to dissolve in polar solvents and nonpolar

substances dissolve in non-polar solvents when a solute dissolves in a solvent
the individual particles of the solute separate from their neighbors and move
between the spaces of the solvent particles. The solvent particles collide with the
solute particles and the intermolecular forces of attraction

The main functions of water in living systems are as follows; as an

effective biological solvent, a reactant molecule in many biological reactions, a
temperature regulator and a pH buffering agent. Water without any doubt, must
be considered an integral part of biological macromolecules.

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