ASPECTS OF BIOCHEMISTRY

WATER
IMPORTANCE OF WATER

• Water is important for two reasons:

1. It is a vital chemical constituent of living cells
2. It provides an environment for those organisms that live in water
STRUCTURE

• The water molecule is composed of

two hydrogen atoms, each linked by
a single chemical bond to an oxygen
atom.
CHEMICAL AND PHYSICAL PROPERTIES

• Although its formula (H2O) seems

simple, water exhibits very complex
chemical and physical properties.
• These properties are rather unusual
and due mostly to its small size, its
polarity and to hydrogen bonding
between its molecules.
POLAR MOLECULE

• Polarity is an uneven charge

distribution within a molecule.
• In water, one part or pole, of the
molecule is slightly positive and the
other slightly negative.
• This is known as a dipole.
ELECTRONEGATIVITY

• Electronegativity is a measure of the

tendency of an atom to attract a bonding
pair of electrons.
• The electronegativity value of hydrogen is 2.1,
while the electronegativity of oxygen is 3.5.
• The highly electronegative oxygen atom
therefore tends to attract the single electrons of
the hydrogen atoms.
• Electrons are negatively charged, so giving the
oxygen atom a slightly negative charge
relative to the hydrogen atom.
FROM WHAT DO THE PROPERTIES OF WATER
ARISE

• The properties of water arise from attractions between oppositely charged

atoms of different water molecules. The slightly positive hydrogen of one
molecule is attracted to the slightly negative oxygen of a nearby molecule.
• The two molecules are thus held together by a hydrogen bond.
HYDROGEN BONDING

• Water molecules have a weak attraction for each other, with opposite charges coming
together and causing them to behave as if they were “sticky” magnets
• These attractions are not as strong as normal ionic or covalent bonds and are called
hydrogen bonds
• They are constantly being formed, broken and reformed in water.
• However when there are large numbers present they form a strong structure
• Although individually weak, their collective effect is responsible for many of the
unusual physical properties of water
HYDROGEN BONDING
BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF WATER –
SOLVENT PROPERTIES

• Water is an excellent solvent for polar substances.

• These include ionic substances such as salts, which contain charged particles
(ions) and some non ionic substances like sugars that contain polar groups
(slightly charged) such as the slightly negative hydroxyl group (-OH)
• On contact with water, the ions and the polar groups are surrounded by water
molecules, which separate (dissociate) the ions or molecules from each other.
• This is what happens when a substance dissolves in water
BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF WATER –
SOLVENT PROPERTIES
BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF WATER –
SOLVENT PROPERTIES
BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF WATER –
SOLVENT PROPERTIES
• Once a substance is in solution its molecules or ions can move about freely, thus making it
more chemically reactive than if it were solid.
• Thus the majority of the cell’s chemical reactions take place in aqueous solutions
• By contrast, non polar molecules, such as lipids, are repelled by water and usually group
together in its presence, that is non polar molecules are hydrophobic.
• These hydrophobic interactions are important in the formation of membranes
• Water’s solvent properties, also mean it acts as a transport medium, as in the blood,
lymphatic and excretory systems, alimentary canal and in xylem and phloem
BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF WATER –
HIGH HEAT CAPACITY
• The heat capacity of water is the amount of heat required to raise the temperature of 1kg of
water by 1o C. It takes 4,184 Joules of heat for the temperature of 1 kg of water to increase 1°C.
• Water has a high heat capacity. This means that a large increase in heat energy results in a
relatively small rise in temperature
• This is because much of the energy is used in breaking the hydrogen bonds which restrict the
movement of the molecules.
• Temperature changes within water are minimised as a result of its high heat capacity
• Biochemical processes therefore operate over a smaller temperature range, proceeding at more
constant rates and less likely to be inhibited by extremes of temperature
• Water also provides a very constant external environment for many cells and organisms.
BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF WATER –
HIGH HEAT OF VAPORISATION
• The latent heat of vaporisation is the quantity of heat a liquid must absorb for 1 kg of it to be
converted from the liquid to the gaseous state.
• That is, to overcome the attractive forces between its molecules so that it can escape as a gas
• A relatively large amount of energy is needed to vaporize water. The heat of vaporization of water is
about 2,260 kJ/kg.
• The heat energy is used in breaking the hydrogen bonds which hold the molecules of liquid water
together.
• As a result water has an unusually high boiling point for such a small molecule
• The energy transferred to water molecules to allow them to vaporize results in a loss of energy from
their surroundings, that is cooling taking place. This is made use of in sweating.
• Because of the need for so much energy to evaporate, as water leaves the surface from which it is
evaporating and removes a lot of heat with it. You feel this as a cooling effect on your skin.
BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF WATER –
HIGH HEAT OF FUSION

• The amount of heat energy required to melt a solid, in this case ice, is very
high. Conversely, liquid water must lose a relatively large amount of heat
energy to freeze.
• This amount of heat energy is known as the latent heat of fusion
• The latent heat of fusion of water is 334 kJ/kg
• This means that both the contents of cells and the water in the environment
are slow to freeze when it is very cold.
BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF WATER –
DENSITY AND FREEZING PROPERTIES

• Most liquids contract on cooling, reaching their maximum density at their

freezing point
• Water is unusual in reaching its maximum density at 4oC
• So as water freezes (at 0oC), the ice formed is less dense than the cold water
around it. The ice therefore floats on top.
• This floating layer insulates the water below
• Aquatic life can generally survive a freeze-up
BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF WATER –
DENSITY AND FREEZING PROPERTIES
BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF WATER –
HIGH SURFACE TENSION AND COHESION

• Cohesion is the force whereby individual molecules stick together

• At the surface of a liquid, a force called surface tension exists between the
molecules as a result of cohesive forces between the molecules. Here the
outermost molecules of water hydrogen bond with water molecules below
them. Surface tension is exploited by insects that “surface skate”
• The high cohesion of water of water molecules is important in cells and in
translocation of water through xylem in plants
BIOLOGICAL SIGNIFICANCE OF WATER –
ADHESION
• Water adheres strongly to most surfaces and
can be drawn up into long columns through
narrow tubes like the xylem vessels of plants,
without the water column breaking.
• Adhesion of water to cell walls by hydrogen
bonds helps counter the downward pull of
gravity.
• Water is transported in plants through both
cohesive and adhesive forces; these forces pull
water and the dissolved minerals from the
roots to the leaves and other parts of the plant.
WATER AS A REAGENT

• Water is biologically significant as an essential metabolite, that is, it

participates in the chemical reactions of metabolism.
• For example, the chemical reactions of condensation and hydrolysis involve
the removal and addition of water, and water is essential for the light-
dependent reactions of photosynthesis.