Explain the compound water, Biology

Assignment Help:

Explain the compound water?

Water :  Water is the most important compound in living cells, making up most of the bulk of living organisms. Our own bodies contain 40% - 60% water. We can survive without food longer than we can without water. Water has several unique properties that make it important to living organisms:

(1) Water is a good solvent. More substances dissolve in water than in any other liquid. Because of its polar nature, water is able to break up ionic compounds into their component ions, freeing them to react with other substances.

(2) Because it is a polar molecule, water is both cohesive and adhesive, which results in capillarity, the ability to move through small orifices or fine pores against the force of gravity and other forces.

(3) The heat of vaporization of water is high; that is, water takes up large quantities of heat when it evaporates, making it a good evaporative coolant. Both plants and animals use water evaporation from surface cells for cooling.

(4) Water has a high specific heat, meaning that it requires a large amount of heat to change its temperature. Since living organisms are made up mostly of water, they gain and lose heat slowly. Water is able to absorb heat from chemical reactions in the organisms.

(5) Water has a high thermal conductivity, or heat conduction, which helps to keep parts of the organism from overheating.

(6) Because of its cohesion, water has a high boiling point. The significance of this is that water does not readily change from a liquid to a gas. In fact, a relatively large quantity of heat is required to change water from a liquid state into gaseous steam.

 


Related Discussions:- Explain the compound water

False positive st changes, Q. False Positive ST Changes? 1) The slope ...

Q. False Positive ST Changes? 1) The slope of the PQ-segment can help predict the magnitude of the influence of P-wave depolarization and thus help predict which patient wou

Unitary explanation for protein synthesis, Q. Why is the concept of a singl...

Q. Why is the concept of a single gene as ultimateunit of inheritance inadequate to provide a unitary explanation for protein synthesis, recombination and mutation? Answer:

Determine the symptoms of bacillus cereus, Determine the Symptoms of bacill...

Determine the Symptoms of bacillus cereus Extremely large numbers (10 8 per gram) of viable cells of B. cereus must be ingested to develop signs and symptoms of the syndrome.

Glycolysis, Glycolysis Oxidation of glucose is called as glycolysis.Glu...

Glycolysis Oxidation of glucose is called as glycolysis.Glucose is oxidized to either lactate or pyruvate. Under aerobic conditions and the dominant product within most tissues

Explain historical example of connecting models and data, Explain Historica...

Explain Historical Example of connecting models and data? An excellent instance of a program that links theory and data is collaborative work on the population dynamics of flou

TISSUES, HOW TO WRITE A CONCLUSION ON A ASSIGNMENT OF EPITHELIAL TISSUES

HOW TO WRITE A CONCLUSION ON A ASSIGNMENT OF EPITHELIAL TISSUES

Illustrating how neuropsychologists evaluate young children, Illustrating h...

Illustrating how neuropsychologists evaluate young preschool children, older children, youngster adults, and elderly adults. The brain is an evolving organ and functions very

What is trophic levels and food webs, What is Trophic Levels and Food Webs?...

What is Trophic Levels and Food Webs? Trophic Levels and Food Webs : Energy flows and nutrients are cycled through an ecosystem via organisms that feed on one another. When c

Q- fever, Q- fever Q-fever or query fever is primarily a disease of animal...

Q- fever Q-fever or query fever is primarily a disease of animals transmitted to human through inhalation. It is also known as Balkan influenza, Abattoir fever or Coxiellosis. It

Define different uses of additives in food, Normal 0 false fa...

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4

Write Your Message!

Captcha
Free Assignment Quote

Assured A++ Grade

Get guaranteed satisfaction & time on delivery in every assignment order you paid with us! We ensure premium quality solution document along with free turntin report!

All rights reserved! Copyrights ©2019-2020 ExpertsMind IT Educational Pvt Ltd