Chapter 2: Water: The Medium of Life Flashcards
(78 cards)
- a major chemical component of the earth’s surface
- only liquid that most organisms ever encounter
water
Life originated, evolved, and thrives in the
seas
Typically, organisms are __ water
70% to 90%
normal metabolic activity can occur only when cells are at least __.
65% H2O
dependency of life on water is not a simple matter, but it can be grasped by considering the unusual __.
chemical and physical properties of H2O
critical determinants of the structure and function of many biomolecules, including amino acids and proteins, nucleotides and nucleic acids, and even phospholipids and membranes
water and its ionization products
- hydrogen ions (H+)
- hydroxide ions (OH-)
an indirect participant—a difference in the concentration of hydrogen ions on opposite sides of a membrane represents an energized condition essential to biological mechanisms of energy transformation.
water
Water has a substantially higher __, __, __, and __. These properties suggest that intermolecular forces of attraction between H2O molecules are __. Thus, the internal cohesion of this substance is __.
- boiling point
- melting point
- heat of vaporization
- surface tensions
- high; high
water has an unusually high __, its maximum density is found in the __, and it has a negative volume of melting (that is, the __, occupies more space than the __).
- dielectric constant (a measure of its ability to store electrical energy)
- liquid (not the solid) state
- solid form, ice; liquid form, water
the unrivaled ability of water to __ is the crucial fact to understanding its properties.
form hydrogen bonds
The two hydrogen atoms of water are linked __ to oxygen, each sharing an __, to give a __ arrangement. This __ structure of the H2O molecule has an enormous influence on its properties.
- covalently
- electron pair
- nonlinear
- “bent”
If H2O were linear, it would be a __.
nonpolar substance
- In the bent configuration, the electronegative O atom and the two H atoms form a __ that renders the molecule distinctly polar.
- this structure is ideally suited to __. Water can serve as both an __ and __ in H-bond formation.
- dipole (occur when electrons are shared unequally between atoms in the same molecule due to a high difference in the electronegativity of the atoms involved. A dipole is a molecule or covalent bond that has a separation of charges. e.g. The oxygen side of the molecule carries a net negative charge, while the side with the two hydrogen atoms has a net positive electrical charge.)
- H-bond formation
- H donor; and an H acceptor
The potential to form four H bonds per water molecule is the source of the __ that endow this substance with its anomalously high boiling point, melting point, heat of vaporization, and surface tension.
- strong intermolecular attractions
an H-bonded water molecule serving as an acceptor is a better H-bond donor than an unbonded molecule (and an H2O molecule serving as an H-bond donor becomes a better H bond acceptor). Thus, participation in H bonding by H2O molecules is a phenomenon of __. The H bonds between neighboring molecules are __ relative to the H–O covalent bonds (420 kJ/mol). As a consequence, the hydrogen atoms are situated __ between the two oxygen atoms along the O-O axis. There is never any ambiguity about which O atom the H atom is chemically bound to, nor to which O it is H bonded.
- mutual reinforcement
- weak (23 kJ/mol each)
- asymmetrically
In ordinary ice, the common crystalline form of water, each H2O molecule has __ to which it is hydrogen bonded: Each H atom __ an H bond to the O of a neighbor, and the O atom serves as an __ from H atoms bound to two different water molecules. A local __ results.
- four nearest neighbors
- donates
- H-bond acceptor
- tetrahedral symmetry
- In ice, the hydrogen bonds form a __. These bonds are __ and __; that is, the H atom lies on a __ between the two O atoms. This linearity and directionality mean that the H bonds in ice are __.
- the directional preference of the H bonds leads to an __ structure
- space-filling, three-dimensional network
- directional; straight
- direct line
- strong
- open lattice
In ice, the __ in ice hold the water molecules apart.
H bonds
Melting involves breaking some of the __ that maintain the crystal structure of ice so that the molecules of water (now liquid) can actually __. Thus, the density of ice is __ than that of water. Ice __, a property of great importance to aquatic organisms in cold climate
- H bonds
- pack closer together
- slightly less
- floats
In liquid water, the rigidity of ice is replaced by __ and the crystalline periodicity of ice gives way to __. The H2O molecules in liquid water form a __ H-bonded network, with each molecule having an average of 4.4 close neighbors situated within a center-to-center distance of 0.284 nm (2.84 Å). At least half of the hydrogen bonds have __
- fluidity
- spatial homogeneity
- disordered
- nonideal orientations (that is, they are not perfectly straight)
Liquid H2O lacks the __ structure of ice. The space about an O atom is not defined by the presence of four hydrogens but can be occupied by other water molecules __ oriented so that the local environment, over time, is essentially uniform.
- regular lattice-like
- randomly
The present interpretation is that water structure at the molecular level is, at any instant, __, consisting of local fluctuations between patches of near tetrahedral, ordered arrays of water molecules and more asymmetrical ensembles of water molecules linked together through __. The participation of each water molecule in an average state of H bonding to its neighbors means that each molecule is connected to every other in a fluid network of H bonds.
- inhomogeneous
- distorted H bonds
The average lifetime of an H-bonded connection between two H2O molecules in water is __. Thus, about every 10 psec, the average H2O molecule __, __, and __ with new neighbors
- 9.5 psec (picoseconds, where 1 psec = 10−12 sec)
- moves; reorients; interacts
In summary, pure liquid water consists of H2O molecules held in a __ that has a local preference for __, yet contains a large number of __ hydrogen bonds. The presence of strain creates a kinetic situation in which H2O molecules can __; fluidity ensues.
- disordered, three-dimensional network
- tetrahedral geometry
- strained or broken
- switch H-bond allegiances