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

Feeding on food masses, Normal 0 false false false EN-I...

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

Medtronic hancock-biological valves, Medtronic Hancock (Standard Model) :  ...

Medtronic Hancock (Standard Model) :  These are gluteraldehyde preserved xenograft aortic valve, which are mounted. The modified orifice version (M-0) is one where the right

Explain the term- pupil, Explain the term- PUPIL Pupil is  the  apertu...

Explain the term- PUPIL Pupil is  the  aperture in  centre of  the  iris diaphragm that regulates entry  of  light into the eye. Colour of  pupil  is  said  to be  black. Actu

Explain the presumptive test - most probable number test, Explain the Presu...

Explain the Presumptive Test - Most Probable Number Test? The Presumptive test is used to detect and estimate coliform population of a water sample. This test is carried out by

Preserving foods, One of man's oldest methods of preserving foods is drying...

One of man's oldest methods of preserving foods is drying or desiccation. The preservation of foods by drying is a direct result of removal of moisture. Microorganisms need water

Biology Question, Why is VeggieTales such a consistently high-quality progr...

Why is VeggieTales such a consistently high-quality program?

Explain hazard identification, Explain Hazard identification Hazard id...

Explain Hazard identification Hazard identification   is "the  identification of biological, chemical and physical agents capable of causing adverse health effects and which m

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