Exam-style Questions

Question 1

Explain why droughts affect the quality and quantity of the food of wombats

Answer 1

when there’s a drought, there’s less food and the food quality is worse. This is because there’s less water in the soil for the plant roots to take up. So, there’s less water for photosynthesis and less mineral ions are transported to the rest of the plant. So, the plant loses mass.

Question 2

Explain why protein is soluble in water

Answer 2

• Protein is folded so that the hydrophilic group is on the outside, and the hydrophobic group is on on the inside. Thus, the R groups are exposed, which are polar, so they form hydrogen bonds with water molecules
• water is a polar solvent

Question 3

Explain how the properties of water molecules result in surface tension

Answer 3

water molecules are polar, so they form hydrogen bonds with other water molecules, as they are cohesive. Thus, there’s an inwards force at its surface

Question 4

Explain the importance of a lower change in mean temperature to organisms, such as fish, that live in oceans

Answer 4

• the internal temperature of fish is not regulated, so they need an appropriate water temperature for metabolism
• If the temperature would increase, there would be less oxygen in the water for the fish to take in

Question 5

Explain how transpiration depends on the dipole nature of water

Answer 5

water is polar, meaning it has a slightly positive hydrogen atoms, and slightly negative oxygen atom. Thus, water forms bonds with other water molecules.
This means that water shows cohesive and adhesive characteristics