water and life

Question 1

what is water on earth?

Answer 1

biological medium

Question 2

what type of molecule is a water molecule?

Answer 2

a polar molecule: opposite ends have opposite charges

Question 2

what type of molecule is a water molecule?

Answer 2

a polar molecule: opposite ends have opposite charges

Question 3

what does the polarity of water molecules allow?

Answer 3

allows water molecule to form hydrogen bonds with each other

Question 4

what are the four properties of water?

Answer 4

cohesive behavior, ability to moderate temperature, expansion upon freezing, versatility as a solvent

Question 5

what is cohesion?

Answer 5

hydrogen bonds holding water molecules together

Question 6

what is adhesion?

Answer 6

attraction between water and a different substance

Question 7

what do cohesion and adhesion allow for?

Answer 7

capillary action

Question 8

what is capillary action?

Answer 8

help the transport of water against gravity in plants

Question 9

what is surface tension?

Answer 9

measure of how hard it is to break the surface of a liquid

Question 10

what is surface tension related to?

Answer 10

cohesion

Question 11

how does water moderate temperature?

Answer 11

Water absorbs heat from warmer air and
releases stored heat to cooler air with only a
slight change in its own temperature due to H
bonds

Question 12

what is because of the water’s hydrogen bonds?

Answer 12

water’s high specific heat

Question 13

what does water’s high specific heat do?

Answer 13

minimizes temperature fluctuations in biological system

Question 14

what does water’s high specific heat do?

Answer 14

minimizes temperature fluctuations in biological system

Question 15

what are examples of water minimizing temperature fluctuations in biological systems?

Answer 15

moderation of coastal temperature, consistent temperature of aquatic environment in extreme environments, and body temperature

Question 16

what is evaporation?

Answer 16

change of a substance from liquid to gas

Question 17

what is evaporative cooling?

Answer 17

as liquid evaporates, its remaining surface cools

Question 18

what does evaporative cooling of water do?

Answer 18

helps stabilize temperatures in organisms and bodies of water

Question 19

why does ice float?

Answer 19

hydrogen bonds are more ordered making ice less dense

Question 20

what would happen is ice sank?

Answer 20

all bodies of water on earth would eventually freeze

Question 21

what is a solution?

Answer 21

liquid that is a homogenous mixture of substances

Question 22

what is a solvent?

Answer 22

dissolving agent of a solution

Question 23

what is a solute?

Answer 23

the substance that is being dissolved

Question 24

what is an aqueous solution?

Answer 24

a solution is which water is the solvent

Question 25

what is a hydration shell?

Answer 25

an ionic compound is dissolved in water, each ion is surrounded by a sphere of water molecules

Question 26

what is a hydrophilic substance?

Answer 26

one that has an affinity for water

Question 27

what are examples of hydrophilic things?

Answer 27

ionic, polar, and charged

Question 28

what is a hydrophobic substance

Answer 28

one that does not have an affinity for water

Question 29

what are hydrophobic things?

Answer 29

nonpolar, not charged, and neutral

Question 30

what is an acid?

Answer 30

any substance that increases the H^+ concentration of a solution

Question 31

what is a base?

Answer 31

any substance that reduces the H^+ concentration of a solution

Question 32

how are bases created?

Answer 32

removing hydrogen or forming OH^-

Question 33

what are buffers?

Answer 33

are a combination of chemicals (an acid-base pair) that tries to neutralize changes in both [H+] and [OH-] in a solution

Question 34

what is ocean acidification?

Answer 34

CO2 dissolving in sea water forming carbonic acid

Question 35

what is acid precipitation?

Answer 35

any form of precipitation with a pH lower than 5.2