A reaction that occurs in living cells to keep an organism alive
1 of 19
Water is a M_________
Metabolite
2 of 19
What is a metabolite?
A substance involved in metabolic reactions
3 of 19
Give an example of a reaction where water is a metabolite?
- Condensation reaction - Hydrolysis reaction
4 of 19
Why is it useful that water is a solvent?
If water is a solvent it means that substances can dissolve in it, and many metabolic reactions take place in solution (e.g. in the cytoplasm)
5 of 19
What makes water useful for temperature control?
It's high latent heat of vaporisation
6 of 19
Why are water molecules good at transporting solutions?
Water is very cohesive
7 of 19
Draw the structure of water as a dot and cross diagram
(Mind map)
8 of 19
What makes water a polar molecule?
The electrons from the hydrogen atoms shared with the oxygen atom are pulled towards the oxygen atom, leaving the otherside of the hydrogen atom slightly positively charged. The oxygen atom therefore is slightly negatively charged.
9 of 19
Why do hydrogen bonds form between water molecules?
The slightly positively charged side of the hydrogen atoms are attracted to the slightly negatively charged oxygen atoms- forming hydrogen bonds. Hence it is due to water being a polar molecule.
10 of 19
Water has a high latent heat of vaporisation- what does this mean?
The hydrogen bonds between water molecules store a lot of energy and take a lot of energy to break and evaporate the water.
11 of 19
How is water having a high latent heat of vaporisation useful to humans?
When we sweat and it evaporates, taking away heat from our bodies to cool us down, we can evaporate water without losing too much of it.
12 of 19
Water can buffer changes in temperature- what does this mean?
Water can resist changes in temperature
13 of 19
Why does water have a high specific heat capacity?
The hydrogen bonds between water molecules absorb a lot of energy.
14 of 19
In which two ways is water having a high SHC useful for living organisms?
- The sea is a good habitat as the temperature of the water doesn't experience rapid changes - The water inside organisms doesn't experience rapid changes in temperature, contributing to homeostasis
15 of 19
Explain why water is a good solvent
Many salts that are involved in metabolic reactions are ionic (e.g. Sodium Na+ Chloride Cl-). As water is a polar molecule, the different charged parts of the molecule attract the oppsitely charged salt ion, surrounding them, hence dissolving them.
16 of 19
What does cohesion mean?
The attraction between molecules of the same type (e.g. two water molecules)
17 of 19
Why are water molecules so cohesive?
They are polar molecules
18 of 19
State two ways in which cohesions is useful for the functions of water
- String cohesion helps water transport substances (e.g. in xylem vessels) - High cohesion gives wtare a high surface tension when it comes into contact with air (thi is why sweat forms droplets and pondskaters can 'walk' on water)
19 of 19
Other cards in this set
Card 2
Front
Water is a M_________
Back
Metabolite
Card 3
Front
What is a metabolite?
Back
Card 4
Front
Give an example of a reaction where water is a metabolite?
Comments
No comments have yet been made