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

A decrease in blood plasma levels of parathyroid hormone, A decrease in blo...

A decrease in blood plasma levels of parathyroid hormone A. occurs in response to an increase in the levels of calcium ions in blood plasma. B. leads to an increase in the a

Explain unresorbable barriers - root perforation, Explain Unresorbable Barr...

Explain Unresorbable Barriers - Root Perforation MTA exhabits excellent tissue biocompatible non resorbable barrier and restorative material. It represents an extraord

Endosperm with lateral haustoria, Endosperm with Lateral Haustoria In...

Endosperm with Lateral Haustoria In Monochoria, in which the endosperm development is of helobial type, the haustorium is neither chalazal nor micropylar but lateral. The cha

Denaturing gel, Denaturing Gel is an agarose or the acrylamide gel run und...

Denaturing Gel is an agarose or the acrylamide gel run under conditions which destroy the secondary or tertiary protein or RNA. For protein, this generally means the inclusion of

How are the sensory receptors classified, Q. According to the stimuli they ...

Q. According to the stimuli they collect how are the sensory receptors classified? The sensory receptors are classified according to the stimuli they get: mechanoreceptors are

Blood group, when the father and the mother of a newborn baby possesses blo...

when the father and the mother of a newborn baby possesses blood group ''O'' +ve,is it possible that the baby can have a blood group ''A'' +ve or ''B''+ve ? Conventionally it shoul

Define brain stem, Define Brain Stem Brain stem consists of three parts...

Define Brain Stem Brain stem consists of three parts i.e. midbrain, pons and medulla oblongata. The functions of the Brain Stem are: Brain stem contains points of cranial

Determine about the colloblast cell, Determine about the Colloblast cell? ...

Determine about the Colloblast cell? The unique sticky discharge cells found in the tentacles of ctenophorans. They are used to capture prey, and although cnidoblasts resemble

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