Earth

WaterandtheFitnessofthe
Environment
Watersupportslife.
Lifeevolvedinwater
Livingthingsare7090%water.

Hydrogen
bonds

FouremergentpropertiesofwatercontributetoEarths
suitabilityforlife

Fourofwaterspropertiesthatfacilitatean
environmentforlifeare

Cohesivebehavior
Abilitytomoderatetemperature
Expansionuponfreezing
Versatilityasasolvent

CohesionofWaterMolecules
Collectively,hydrogenbondsholdwater
moleculestogether,aphenomenoncalled
cohesion
Cohesionhelpsthetransportofwateragainst
gravityinplants
Adhesionisanattractionbetweendifferent
substances,forexample,betweenwaterand
plantcellwalls

Animation: Water Transport

Right-click slide/select Play

Figure 3.3

Adhesion
Two types of
water-conducting
cells

Cohesion
Direction
of water
movement

300 m

 Surfacetensionisameasureofhowharditis
tobreakthesurfaceofaliquid
Surfacetensionisrelatedtocohesion

Figure 3.4

ModerationofTemperaturebyWater

Waterabsorbsheatfromwarmerairand
releasesstoredheattocoolerair
Watercanabsorborreleasealargeamountof
heatwithonlyaslightchangeinitsown
temperature

WatersHighSpecificHeat
Thespecificheatofasubstanceistheamount
ofheatthatmustbeabsorbedorlostfor1gof
thatsubstancetochangeitstemperatureby1C
Thespecificheatofwateris1cal/g/C
Waterresistschangingitstemperaturebecause
ofitshighspecificheat

 Watershighspecificheatcanbetracedto
hydrogenbonding
Heatisabsorbedwhenhydrogenbondsbreak
Heatisreleasedwhenhydrogenbondsform

Thehighspecificheatofwaterminimizes
temperaturefluctuationstowithinlimitsthat
permitlife

Figure 3.5

Los Angeles
(Airport) 75
70s (F)
80s
90s
100s

San Bernardino
100
Riverside 96
Santa Ana
Palm Springs
84
106

Burbank
90

Santa Barbara 73

Pacific Ocean 68
San Diego 72

40 miles

Figure 3.4 Evaporative cooling

IceFloats

Figure 3.6

Hydrogen bond

Ice:
Hydrogen bonds
are stable

Liquid water:
Hydrogen bonds
break and re-form

Water:TheSolventofLife
Asolutionisaliquidthatisahomogeneous
mixtureofsubstances
Asolventisthedissolvingagentofasolution
Thesoluteisthesubstancethatisdissolved
Anaqueoussolutionisoneinwhichwateris
thesolvent

Figure 3.7 A crystal of table salt dissolving in water

Negative
Oxygen regions
of polar water
molecules are
attracted to sodium
cations (Na+).
Positive
hydrogen regions
of water molecules
cling to chloride
anions (Cl).

Na+

Na

+
Cl

Cl

+
+

HydrophilicandHydrophobicSubstances
Ahydrophilicsubstanceisonethathasan
affinityforwater
Ahydrophobicsubstanceisonethatdoesnot
haveanaffinityforwater
Oilmoleculesarehydrophobicbecausethey
haverelativelynonpolarbonds
Acolloidisastablesuspensionoffine
particlesinaliquid

WaterDissolvesBiological
Macromolecules

This oxygen is
attracted to a slight
positive charge on
the lysozyme
molecule.

This oxygen is attracted to a slight

negative charge on the lysozyme molecule.
(a) Lysozyme molecule
in a nonaqueous
environment

(b) Lysozyme molecule (purple)

in an aqueous environment
such as tears or saliva

(c) Ionic and polar regions on the proteins

Surface attract water molecules.

 Molecularmassisthesumofallmassesofall
atomsinamolecule
Numbersofmoleculesareusuallymeasuredin
moles,where1mole(mol)=6.02x1023
molecules
Avogadrosnumberandtheunitdaltonwere
definedsuchthat6.02x1023daltons=1g
Molarity(M)isthenumberofmolesofsolute
perliterofsolution

SameNumberofMolecules

Acidicandbasicconditionsaffect
livingorganisms
Ahydrogenatominahydrogenbondbetween
twowatermoleculescanshiftfromonetothe
other
Thehydrogenatomleavesitselectronbehindand
istransferredasaproton,orhydrogenion(H+)
Themoleculewiththeextraprotonisnowa
hydroniumion(H3O+),thoughitisoften
representedasH+
Themoleculethatlosttheprotonisnowa
hydroxideion(OH)

Unnumbered Figure (page 53) Chemical reaction: hydrogen bond shift

+
H

H
H

H
H

H
Hydronium
ion (H3O+)

+
H
Hydroxide
ion (OH)

Figure 3.10

H+

H+

+
H
H+ OH
+
OH H H+
+
H H+

Acidic
solution

Increasingly Acidic
[H+] > [OH ]

pH Scale
0
1

Battery acid

Gastric juice, lemon juice

Vinegar, wine,
cola

Tomato juice
Beer
Black coffee

5
6

Neutral
solution

OH

OH
OH H+ OH

OH OH

H+ OH

Basic
solution

Neutral
[H+] = [OH ]

7
8

Increasingly Basic
[H+] < [OH ]

OH
OH
H+ H+ OH

OH OH +
+
H
H
H+

Rainwater
Urine
Saliva
Pure water
Human blood, tears
Seawater
Inside of small intestine

9
10
Milk of magnesia

11
Household ammonia

12
13
14

Household
bleach
Oven cleaner

Buffers

TheinternalpHofmostlivingcellsmust
remainclosetopH7
Buffersaresubstancesthatminimizechanges
inconcentrationsofH+andOHinasolution
Mostbuffersconsistofanacidbasepairthat
reversiblycombineswithH+

 Theburningoffossilfuelsisamajorsourceof
sulfuroxidesandnitrogenoxides
Thesecompoundsreactwithwaterintheairto
formstrongacidsthatfallinrainorsnow
Acidprecipitationisrain,fog,orsnowwitha
pHlowerthan5.2
Acidprecipitationdamageslifeinlakesand
streamsandchangessoilchemistryonland