Module 2 – Learning Activities (Sci 113 – Biochemistry)

WATER AND THE AQUEOUS ENVIRONMENT

Learning Activity 1

Read an article by Lingam and Loeb (2020) about the Potential For Liquid Water Biochemistry
Deep Under The Surfaces Of The Moon, Mars And Beyond in this link:

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.3847/2041-8213/abb608/pdf

After reading about it, write three (3) significant ideas you learned in the following thought
bubble.

Learning Activity 2

THE STRUCTURE AND PROPERTIES OF WATER

The chemical and physical processes of life require that molecules be able to move about,
encounter one another, and change partners frequently in the complicated processes of metabolism
and synthesis. A fluid environment allows molecular mobility, and water not only is the most abundant
fluid on earth, it is also admirably suited to this purpose. To see why, we must examine the properties
of water in some detail.

Answer the following:

A. Fill out the succeeding table about the important properties of water.

PROPERTIES OF WATER DESCRIPTION

Molecular Melting

Boiling point

Heat of Vaporization

Density

Dielectric constant

Viscosity

Surface tension
 B. Explain concisely why this seemingly trivial fact is of the utmost importance for life on earth.
Write your answer in the succeeding text box.

“Liquid water is more dense than its solid form.”

Learning Activity 3

WATER AS A SOLVENT

The processes of life require a wide variety of ions and molecules to move about in proximity,
that is, to be soluble in a common medium. Water serves as the universal intracellular and
extracellular medium and an excellent solvent because of its hydrogen-bonding potential and its polar
nature.

Fill up the succeeding Venn diagram to compare and contrast the three concepts about water
as a solvent.

Hydrophilic Molecules in Aqueous

Solution
________________
________________
________________
________________

Amphipathic Molecules in Hydrophobic Molecules in

Aqueous Solution Aqueous Solution
________________ ________________
________________ ________________
________________ ________________
________________ ________________

LEARNING ACTIVITY 4

ACIDS AND BASES: PROTON DONORS AND ACCEPTORS

Bronsted-Lowry Theory is also called “Proton Theory” of acids and bases. This theory was
introduced independently in 1923 by the Danish chemist Johannes Nicolaus Bronsted and the English
chemist Thomas Martin Lowry. Bronsted-Lowry Theory states that any compound that can transfer a
proton to any other compound is an acid, and the compound that accepts the proton is a base. A
strong acid dissociates almost completely into a proton and a weak conjugate base, while a strong base
ionizes entirely, releasing OH- ion, which is a powerful proton acceptor.

Expound these:
 “Many biological molecules are weak acids or
weak bases."

“The stronger the acid, the weaker its conjugate

base."

LEARNING ACTIVITY 5

THE HENDERSON-HASSELBALCH EQUATION RELATES PH, pKa AND BUFFER CONCENTRATION

The shape of the titration curve of any weak acid is described by the Henderson-Hasselbalch
equation, which is important for understanding buffer action and acid-base balance in the blood and
tissues of vertebrates. This equation is simply a useful way of restating the expression for the ionization
constant of an acid.

[A¯]
The Henderson-Hasselbalch equation is : pH= pKa+log . This equation fits the titration
[HA ]
curve of all weak acids and enables us to deduce some important quantitative relationships.

“The Henderson-Hasselbalch equation allows us to:

1