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

Define reduction of blood lipids, Define Reduction of blood lipids? Thi...

Define Reduction of blood lipids? This effect have been especially observed with saponins. Diets containing saponin-rich foods (300-500 mg saponins/day) e.g. soya, alfalfa, chi

What are some prophylactic measures against hiv infection, What are some pr...

What are some prophylactic measures against HIV infection? The major prophylactic measures against HIV infection are: the use of condoms in sexual relations, not to share syrin

Implementation of the plan in diabetes mellitus, Q. Implementation of the P...

Q. Implementation of the Plan in diabetes mellitus? You have helped the client to find out an alternative solution and to develop a plan to solve the problem. Now, it has to be

Genetics., Ask Two true-breeding pea plants were crossed. One parent is rou...

Ask Two true-breeding pea plants were crossed. One parent is round, terminal, violet, constricted, while the other expresses the respective contrasting phenotypes of wrinkled, axia

What are the male pronucleus and the female pronucleus, Q. What are the mal...

Q. What are the male pronucleus and the female pronucleus? The female pronucleus is the proper haploid nucleus of the egg cell and Male pronucleus is the haploid nucleus of the

Explain the classification of malignant tumors, Explain the Classification ...

Explain the Classification of Malignant Tumors Malignant tumors can be classified as: Carcinomas: These tumors arise from the epithelial lining (the squamous cells) e.g. ski

Korarchaeotes, what is the effect that korarchaeotes have on humans?

what is the effect that korarchaeotes have on humans?

Membrane protein purification and reconstitution, The first step of the pur...

The first step of the purification of an integral membrane protein is to disrupt its interactions with other integral proteins and the lipids in the membrane.  This is commonly ach

How b and t cells recognize antigen are true explain, Which of the followin...

Which of the following statements about how B and T cells recognize antigen are true? a. B cells only recognize antigen presented by class I or class II MHC molecules. b. Both cell

Explain the adverse effects of rifamycin, Adverse effects of rifamycin  ...

Adverse effects of rifamycin  No severe adverse effects were observed in clinical trials with rifaximin. There have been a few postmarketingeports of hypersensitivity reactions

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