Chemistry of Life… Water

Water:
• Most abundant compound in living things.
• Water is essential for life on our planet
• ________________________________________________________________!
• H2O = 2 hydrogens and 1 oxygen
• Neutral molecule (______________________________________________________________)
• Water is POLAR molecule because there is an uneven distribution of electrons between the
oxygen and hydrogen atoms.
Water and Polarity:
• Oxygen has a slight negative charge in water.
• Hydrogen has a slight positive charge in water.
• Polar = ________________________________________________________________________
Properties of Water:
• Cohesion
– ________________________________________________________________________
– Example:
– Surface Tension: __________________________________________________________
________________________________________________________________________
• Adhesion
– _______________________________________________________________________.
– Adhesion between water and glass causes the water to rise in a narrow tube against
gravity
• Capillary Affect
• Meniscus
• Root of plants
• Hydrogen Bonds:
• ______________________________________________________________________________
– such as nitrogen, oxygen, or fluorine
• Occurs in both inorganic molecules such as water and organic molecules such as DNA.
• Responsible for the high boiling point of water and melting point.
• Water is unique
– Its oxygen atom has two lone pairs and two hydrogen atoms, meaning that the total
number of bonds of a water molecule is up to four.
Solutions and Suspensions
 _____________: material composed of 2 or more elements or compounds
 Physically mixed together
 Not chemically combined
Types of Mixtures:
 _______________: mixture of two or more substances that the molecules are evenly distributed
 Two parts of a solution:
1. ___________: substance that is dissolved
2. ___________: substance in which the solute dissolves
 Examples:
 Sugar in water
1. Solute?
 ____________________________
 2. Solvent?
 ____________________________
 ________________: mixture of water and nondissolved materials
 Examples: water and oil
pH Scale:
 Scale that indicates the concentration of hydrogen ions in a solution.
 Ranges from 0 to 14.
 pH of 7 = _____________________.
 pH less than 7 = __________________.
 pH more than 7 = __________________.
Acids:

 Any compound that forms hydrogen (H+) in solution.

 The concentration of ___________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________________________
Bases:
 Any compound that produces hydroxide ions (OH-) in solution.
 Concentration of ___________________________________________________________
_________________________________________________________________________

Buffer:
 Weak acids and bases that react with strong acids and bases to help maintain a stable pH.
Summary: