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

Gene targeting, Gene targeting: There is always a debate on gene integrat...

Gene targeting: There is always a debate on gene integration in to the host animal. It is random gene integration Vs gene targeting. Perhaps most significantly, pro-nuclear in

Cages for keeping animals in the science room, Cages for keeping animals in...

Cages for keeping animals in the science room It is frequently desirable in elementary and general science to stay animals caged in the science room for short periods of observ

Free-hand sectioning of plant tissue (stem), What are the processes involve...

What are the processes involved in the preparation of plant tissue for free hand sectioning?

Explain phenylephine and methoxamine in amyl nitrite, Explain Phenylephine ...

Explain Phenylephine and Methoxamine in amyl nitrite ? They have opposing effects to amyl nitrite as they increase the systemic BP. phenylephine due to its shorter duration of

Explain the management of eating disorders, Explain the Management of Eatin...

Explain the Management of Eating Disorders? We shall consider the components of the management of anorexia nervosa and bulimia nervosa together, since the nutritional consequen

Describe the properties of gum ghatti, Describe the properties of gum ghatt...

Describe the properties of gum ghatti Important property of gums referred to as 'viscosity' and the effets of pH. Gum ghatti does not form true aqueous solutions but form visco

What is choanocytes, Which one of the following statements about all the fo...

Which one of the following statements about all the four of Spongilla, Leech, Dolphin and Penguin is correct? 1. Penguin is homiothermic while the remaining three are poikilothe

Pluricellular organisms are formed by serial mitosis, Q. From the zygote, p...

Q. From the zygote, pluricellular organisms are formed by serial mitosis. Would this formation be possible if each cell made by mitosis had an identical life in relation to its ant

Can our experiences change our brain, Can our experiences change our brain ...

Can our experiences change our brain A. It is now know by Scientists that brain is remarkably "plastic:" it continues to change during the course of life in accordance with our

Use of echocardiography in pericardial diseases, Q. Use of echocardiography...

Q. Use of echocardiography in pericardial diseases? One of the earliest clinical applications of echocardiography was in the detection of pericardial effusion and it remains th

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