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

What is the function of the feet in molluscs, Q. What is the function of th...

Q. What is the function of the feet in molluscs? How is the mollusc foot related to the name given to the classes of the phylum? The mollusc foot has the function of support, l

A light microscope with unlimited resolution, Theoretically you can build a...

Theoretically you can build a light microscope with unlimited magnification, but can you build a light microscope with unlimited resolution? Why or why not? (Hint: what really cont

Biological species concept, The biologicaI species concept claims that spec...

The biologicaI species concept claims that species consist of natural populations and that species are real and objective. They are not man-made subjective abstraction. According

Animal and plant cells, Animal and Plant Cells The internal structural ...

Animal and Plant Cells The internal structural organisation and information related with hereditary characters and metabolic pathways are similar in all eucaryotic cells whethe

Define termination phase - mechanism of protein synthesis, Define Terminati...

Define Termination phase - mechanism of protein synthesis? Termination: RNA polymerase recognizes the terminator, which results in no further nucleotides being incorporated and

Cardiac resynchronization therapy, This innovative, pacemaker-based approac...

This innovative, pacemaker-based approach to the treatment of patients with heart failure who have a wide QRS complex (>140 ms) on 12-lead ECG aims at providing electromechanical c

What is monohybridism, What is monohybridism? Monohybridism is the stud...

What is monohybridism? Monohybridism is the study of only one feature in the crossing of two pure individuals (hybridization) for that characteristic.

Explain chemical structure of saponins, Explain Chemical Structure of sapon...

Explain Chemical Structure of saponins? Let us briefly understand their chemical nature. Their structures are characterized by the presence of a steroid or triterpene group, i.

SCINCE, I WANT JOB FOR TEACHING SCINCE SUBJECT FOR ONLINE

I WANT JOB FOR TEACHING SCINCE SUBJECT FOR ONLINE

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