Water

Question 1

What does water do?

Answer 1

• it gives support e.g. to plant cells
• it’s transparent so allows visibility and can photosynthesise
• ice is less dense than water so ice floats, large bodies of water will not float.

Question 2

Water is a metabolite

Answer 2

It’s in many metabolic reactions including condensation and hydrolysis reactions.

Question 3

Why is water an important solvent?

Answer 3

It’s a important solvent in which metabolic reactions occur and for the transport of ions.

Question 4

Water has a high heat capacity

Answer 4

So lots of energy is needed to heat up water therefore it maintains a stable temperature e.g. in the body.

Question 5

Water had a large latent heat of vaporisation

Answer 5

Lots of energy is needed to break hydrogen bonds, this produces a cooling effect with little load of aster through evaporation e.g. sweating and transpiration.

Question 6

What is cohesion?

Answer 6

Water has cohesion between water molecules therefore water can travel up xylem vessels in unbroken columns.

Question 7

What is adhesion?

Answer 7

Water has adhesion between water molecules and other polar molecules, it aids cohesion. Water is polar.

Question 8

Water has surface tension

Answer 8

Where water meets air, this allows the use of the water surface as a habitat for e.g. pond skaters. Those water molecules in the surface are not affected by molecules above them and therefore pull together more strongly effectively resembling a stretched membrane.