Chapter 3

Water: The Molecule That Supports All of Life

Water is the biological medium on Earth
All living organisms require water more than any
other substance
Most cells are surrounded by water, and cells
themselves are about 7095% water
The abundance of water is the main reason the
Earth is habitable
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Electronegativity = attraction of an atom for the
electrons of a covalent bond
Water has polar
covalent bonds
Concept 3.1: Polar covalent bonds in water
molecules result in hydrogen bonding
The water molecule is a polar molecule: the
opposite ends have opposite charges
Polarity allows water molecules to form hydrogen
bonds with each other
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Figure 3.2
Hydrogen
bond
Polar covalent
bonds
! -
! +
! +
! -
! -
! +
! +
! -
Figure 3.UN01
Hydrogen bondsweak, but important.
Useful if you
want things to
come together
for a short time
and then break
apart.
Waters emergent properties contribute to
Earths suitability for life
Four of waters properties that facilitate an
environment for life are
Cohesive behavior
Ability to moderate temperature
Expansion upon freezing
Versatility as a solvent

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Cohesion of Water Molecules

Collectively, hydrogen bonds hold water
molecules together, a phenomenon called
cohesion
Cohesion helps the transport of water against
gravity in plants
Adhesion is an attraction between different
substances, for example, between water and
plant cell walls
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Animation: Water Transport
Copyright 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings
Each water
molecule
can form
hydrogen
bonds with up to
four neighbors.
Cohesion
WATER
Cohesion among water molecules plays a key
role in the transport of water against gravity in
plants.
Adhesion, clinging of one substance to another,
contributes too.
Copyright 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings
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Animation: Water Transport
Right-click slide/select Play
Figure 3.3
Adhesion
Two types of
water-conducting
cells
Cohesion
300 m
Direction
of water
movement
Surface tension is a measure of how hard it is
to break the surface of a liquid
Surface tension is related to cohesion
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Figure 3.4
Heat and Temperature
Kinetic energy is the energy of motion
Heat is a measure of the total amount of kinetic
energy due to molecular motion
Temperature measures the intensity of heat
due to the average kinetic energy of molecules
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Figure 3.2
Hydrogen
bond
Polar covalent
bonds
! -
! +
! +
! -
! -
! +
! +
! -
Moderation of Temperature by Water
Water absorbs heat from warmer air and
releases stored heat to cooler air
Water can absorb or release a large amount of
heat with only a slight change in its own
temperaturein part because water has a very
high specific heat.
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Waters high specific heat can be traced to
hydrogen bonding
Heat is absorbed when hydrogen bonds break
Heat is released when hydrogen bonds form
The high specific heat of water minimizes
temperature fluctuations to within limits that permit
life
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Figure 3.5
Santa Barbara 73
Los Angeles
(Airport) 75
Pacific Ocean 68
Santa Ana
84
Burbank
90
San Bernardino
100
Palm Springs
106
Riverside 96
San Diego 72
40 miles
70s (F)
80s
90s
100s
The heat of vaporization of water is 0.58
kCal to convert 1 g water to water
vapor. This results in a net cooling
effect, which helps stabilize
temperatures in organisms and bodies
of water.
Evaporative Cooling
Floating of Ice on Liquid Water
Ice floats in liquid water because hydrogen bonds
in ice are more ordered, making ice less dense
Water reaches its greatest density at 4C
If ice sank, all bodies of water would eventually
freeze solid, making life impossible on Earth
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Water is unusual because it is less
dense as a solid than as a liquid.
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Floating of Ice on Liquid Water
Therefore, ice floats on the cool water below.
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Water: The Solvent of Life
A solution is a liquid that is a homogeneous
mixture of substances
A solvent is the dissolving agent of a solution
The solute is the substance that is dissolved
An aqueous solution is one in which water is
the solvent
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Water is a versatile solvent due to its polarity,
which allows it to form hydrogen bonds easily
When an ionic compound is dissolved in water,
each ion is surrounded by a sphere of water
molecules called a hydration shell
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Water is an effective solvent because it readily
forms hydrogen bonds.

Sphere of water
surrounding each
dissolved ions is
called a
hydration shell
Polar molecules
are also soluble
in water because
they can also
form hydrogen
bonds with water.
Figure 3.8
! -
! +
! +
! -
Even large polar molecules such as proteins can
dissolve in water if they have ionic and polar regions
Substances with an
affinity for water are said
to be hydrophilic

Define: Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic
Substances
Hydrophilic
Hydrophobic
Colloid is a stable suspension of fine particles in
a liquid
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Solute Concentration in Aqueous Solutions
Most biochemical reactions occur in water
Chemical reactions depend on collisions of
molecules and therefore on the concentration of
solutes in an aqueous solution
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A water molecule dissociates into a hydrogen ion and
a hydroxide ion:
H
2
O <=> H
+
+ OH
-
This reaction is reversible.
At equilibrium the concentration of water molecules
greatly exceeds that of H
+
and OH
-
(one water
molecule in every 554 million is dissociated).
Rare event, yet biologically significant.
Changes in concentrations of H
+
and OH

can
drastically affect the chemistry of a cell

Dissociation of water molecules
Copyright 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings
Occasionally, a hydrogen atom shared by two water
molecules shifts from one molecule to the other.
The hydrogen atom leaves its electron behind and is
transferred as a single proton - a hydrogen ion (H
+
).


Dissociation of water molecules
Copyright 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings
Dissociation
Changes in concentrations of H
+
and OH

can
drastically affect the chemistry of a cell
Figure 3.UN02
2 H
2
O
Hydroxide
ion (OH
-
)
Hydronium
ion (H
3
O
+
)
+ -


The pH scale is used to describe concentrations of
H+ ions in solutions.

Solutions are termed ACIDS or BASES depending
on whether they donate H+ ions, or accept H+
ions

Copyright 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings
Acids and Bases
An acid is any substance that increases the H
+

concentration of a solution PROTON DONOR
A base is any substance that reduces the H
+

concentration of a solution PROTON
ACCEPTOR.
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Figure 3.UN05
Acidic
[H
+
] > [OH
-
]
Neutral
[H
+
] = [OH
-
]
Basic
[H
+
] < [OH
-
]
Bases donate OH
-

or accept H
+
in
aqueous solutions
14
7
Acids donate H
+
in
aqueous solutions.
0
The pH Scale
In any aqueous solution at 25C the product of H
+
and OH

is constant and can be written as

The pH of a solution is defined by the negative
logarithm of H
+
concentration, written as
For a neutral aqueous solution, [H
+
] is 10
7
, so
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[H
+
][OH

] = 10
14

pH = log [H
+
]
pH = (7) = 7
Figure 3.10
pH Scale
Battery acid
Gastric juice, lemon juice
Vinegar, wine,
cola
Beer
Tomato juice
Black coffee
Rainwater
Urine
Saliva
Pure water
Human blood, tears
Seawater
Inside of small intestine
Milk of magnesia
Household ammonia
Household
bleach
Oven cleaner
Basic
solution
Neutral
solution
Acidic
solution
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
Neutral
[H
+
] = [OH
-
]
I
n
c
r
e
a
s
i
n
g
l
y

B
a
s
i
c

[
H
+
]

<

[
O
H
-
]

I
n
c
r
e
a
s
i
n
g
l
y

A
c
i
d
i
c

[
H
+
]

>

[
O
H
-
]

H
+

H
+

H
+

H
+

H
+

H
+

H
+

H
+

OH
-

OH
-

H
+

OH
-

H
+

OH
-

OH
-

OH
-
OH
-

H
+

H
+

H
+

H
+

OH
-

OH
-

OH
-

OH
-

OH
-

OH
-

OH
-

H
+

11
12
13
14
Acidic solutions have pH values less than 7
Basic solutions have pH values greater than 7
Most biological fluids have pH values in the range
of 6 to 8
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Buffers
The internal pH of most living cells must remain
close to pH 7
Buffers are substances that minimize changes
in concentrations of H
+
and OH

in a solution
Most buffers consist of an acid-base pair that
reversibly combines with H
+

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Acidification: A Threat to Water Quality
Human activities such as burning fossil fuels
threaten water quality
CO
2
is the main product of fossil fuel combustion
About 25% of human-generated CO
2
is absorbed
by the oceans
CO
2
dissolved in sea water forms carbonic acid;
this process is called ocean acidification
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Figure 3.11
CO
2

CO
2
+ H
2
O H
2
CO
3
H
+
+

HCO
3
-
H
+
+

CO
3
2-
HCO
3
-
CaCO
3

CO
3
2-
+ Ca
2+

H
2
CO
3
As seawater acidifies, H
+

ions combine with carbonate
ions to produce bicarbonate

Carbonate is required for
calcification (production of
calcium carbonate) by many
marine organisms, including
reef-building corals
Figure 3.UN06
[CO
3
2
-
] (mol/kg)
0
200 250
C
a
l
c
i
f
i
c
a
t
i
o
n

r
a
t
e

(
m
m
o
l

C
a
C
O
3
/
m
2

d
a
y
)

20
40
The burning of fossil fuels is also a major source
of sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides. They
These compounds react with water in the air to
form strong acids that fall in rain or snow
Acid precipitation is rain, fog, or snow with a pH
lower than 5.2
Acid precipitation damages life in lakes and
streams and changes soil chemistry on land
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