Water Flashcards
State the 5 properties of water.
Important metabolite Good solvent High latent heat of vaporisation High specific heat capacity Polar
What charge do the hydrogen atoms in a water molecule have?
Delta positive
What charge does the oxygen atom in a water molecule have?
Delta negative
What does polarity mean?
When there is an uneven distribution of charge, one side is partially negative and the other partially positive
What bonds are there in water?
Hydrogen bonds
What are hydrogen bonds?
Weak bonds between a slightly positively charged H atom in one molecule and a slightly negatively charged atom in another
Where do the hydrogen bonds in water occur?
Between a hydrogen atom in one water molecule and an oxygen molecule in another
What is a metabolite?
A substance required for a reaction
What are the two metabolic reactions which make water an important metabolite?
Condensation
Hydrolysis
Describe how water is used as a solvent for ionic compounds.
1) In ionic compounds there are both positive and negative ions
2) The slightly negative part of the water molecule will be attracted to the positive ion, and the slightly negative part of the water will be attracted to the negative ion
3) This means the ions will become completely surrounded and dissolved in the water
How is water being a solvent useful?
It can dissolve useful substances so they can be transported
What happens to the water when the hydrogen bonds are broken?
It evaporates
What does high latent heat of vaporisation mean?
It takes a lot of heat to change it from a liquid to a gas
Why does water have a high specific heat capacity?
It takes a lot of energy to break the hydrogen bonds in water which means theres less heat energy available to actually heat the water
What does high specific heat capacity mean?
It takes a lot of energy to heat it up
