The importance of water in the

cell
The most inorganic chemical compound in
living thing organisms
Water makes up about 70% of our body
About 70 95% of the cell weight of a cell
is made up of water
Water is important for life because its
chemical and physical properties allow it to
sustain life.
Properties of Water
Polar molecule
Cohesion and
adhesion
High specific heat
Density greatest
at 4
o
C
Universal solvent
of life
Polarity of Water
In a water molecule two hydrogen atoms form
single polar covalent bonds with an oxygen
atom. Gives water more structure than other
liquids
Because oxygen is more electronegative, the region
around oxygen has a partial negative charge.
The region near the two hydrogen atoms has a
partial positive charge.
A water molecule is a polar molecule with
opposite ends of the molecule with opposite
charges.
Water has a variety of unusual properties
because of attractions between these polar
molecules.
The slightly negative regions of one molecule are
attracted to the slightly positive regions of nearby
molecules, forming a hydrogen bond.
Each water molecule
can form hydrogen
bonds with up to
four neighbors.
Copyright 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings
Fig. 3.1
HYDROGEN BONDS
Hold water molecules
together
Each water molecule can
form a maximum of 4
hydrogen bonds
The hydrogen bonds
joining water molecules
are weak, about 1/20
th
as
strong as covalent bonds.
They form, break, and
reform with great
frequency
Extraordinary Properties
that are a result of hydrogen
bonds.
Cohesive behavior
Resists changes in
temperature
High heat of vaporization
Expands when it freezes
Versatile solvent
Organisms Depend on Cohesion
Cohesion is responsible for the
transport of the water column in
plants
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, as water adheres
to the wall of the
vessels.

Hydrogen bonds hold the substance
together, a phenomenon called cohesion
Surface tension, a measure of the force
necessary to stretch or break the surface of a
liquid, is related to cohesion.
Water has a greater surface tension than most other
liquids because hydrogen bonds among surface
water molecules resist stretching or breaking the
surface.
Water behaves as if
covered by an invisible
film.
Some animals can stand,
walk, or run on water
without breaking the
surface.
Copyright 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings
Fig. 3.3
Moderates Temperatures on Earth
What is kinetic energy?
Heat?
Temperature?
Calorie?
What is the difference
in cal and Cal?
What is specific heat?
Celsius Scale at Sea Level

100
o
C

Water boils

37
o
C

Human body
temperature

23
o
C

Room temperature

0
o
C

Water freezes



Water stabilizes air temperatures by absorbing heat from
warmer air and releasing heat to cooler air.
Water can absorb or release relatively large amounts of heat
with only a slight change in its own temperature.
Three-fourths of the earth is covered
by water. The water serves as a
large heat sink responsible for:
1. Prevention of temperature
fluctuations that are outside the
range suitable for life.
2. Coastal areas having a mild
climate
3. A stable marine environment
Specific Heat is the amount of heat that must be
absorbed or lost for one gram of a substance to
change its temperature by 1
o
C.
Evaporative Cooling
The cooling of a
surface occurs when
the liquid evaporates
This is responsible for:
Moderating earths
climate
Stabilizes
temperature in
aquatic ecosystems
Preventing organisms
from overheating
Density of Water
Most dense at 4
o
C
Contracts until 4
o
C
Expands from 4
o
C to
0
o
C




The density of water:
1. Prevents water from freezing from the bottom up.
2. Ice forms on the surface firstthe freezing of the
water releases heat to the water below creating
insulation.
3. Makes transition between season less abrupt.
When water reaches 0
o
C, water becomes locked into
a crystalline lattice with each molecule bonded to to
the maximum of four partners.
As ice starts to melt, some of the hydrogen bonds
break and some water molecules can slip closer
together than they can while in the ice state.
Ice is about 10% less dense than water at 4
o
C.
Copyright 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings
Fig. 3.5
Solvent for Life
Solution
Solute
solvent
Aqueous solution
Hydrophilic
Ionic compounds
dissolve in water
Polar molecules
(generally) are water
soluble
Hydrophobic
Nonpolar compounds
Most biochemical reactions
involve solutes dissolved in water.
There are two important
quantitative proprieties of aqueous
solutions.
1. Concentration

2. pH
Concentration of a Solution
Molecular weight sum of the weights of all atoms in
a molecule (daltons)
Mole amount of a substance that has a mass in
grams numerically equivalent to its molecular weight
in daltons.
Avogadros number 6.02 X 10
23
A mole of one substance has the same number of molecules
as a mole of any other substance.
Molarity

The concentration of a material in solution is called its molarity.

A one molar solution has one mole of a substance dissolved in
one liter of solvent, typically water.
Calculate a one molar solution of sucrose, C
12
H
22
O
16
.
C = 12 daltons
H = 1 dalton
O = 16 daltons
12 x12 = 144
1 x 22 = 22
16 x 11 = 176
342 For a 2M solution?
For a .05 M solution?
For a .2 M solution?
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
+
).
The water molecule that lost a proton is now a
hydroxide ion (OH
-
).
The water
molecule with
the extra proton
is a hydronium
ion (H
3
O
+
).
Dissociation of Water Molecules
Copyright 2002 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Benjamin Cummings
Unnumbered Fig. 3.47
A simpler way to view this process is that 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
-
.
In pure water only one water molecule in
every 554 million is dissociated.
At equilibrium, the concentration of H
+

or OH
-
is 10
-7
M (25C) .
Acids and Bases
An acid is a substance that
increases the hydrogen ion
concentration in a solution.
Any substance that reduces the
hydrogen ion concentration in a
solution is a base.
Some bases reduce H
+
directly by
accepting hydrogen ions.

Strong acids and bases complete
dissociate in water.
Weak acids and bases dissociate
only partially and reversibly.




pH Scale
The pH scale in any aqueous solution :
[ H
+
] [OH
-
] = 10
-14

Measures the degree of acidity (0 14)
Most biologic fluids are in the pH range
from 6 8
Each pH unit represents a tenfold
difference (scale is logarithmic)
A small change in pH actually indicates a
substantial change in H
+
and OH
-

concentrations.

Problem
How much greater is the [ H
+
] in a
solution with pH 2 than in a solution with
pH 6?
Answer:
pH of 2 = [ H
+
] of 1.0 x 10
-2
= 1/100 M
pH of 6 = [ H
+
] of 1.0 x 10
-6
= 1/1,000,000 M
10,000 times greater
Buffers
A substance that eliminates large sudden
changes in pH.
Buffers help organisms maintain the pH of
body fluids within the narrow range
necessary for life.
Are combinations of H
+
acceptors and
donors forms in a solution of weak acids
or bases
Work by accepting H
+
from solutions
when they are in excess and by donating
H
+
when they have been depleted.
Acid Precipitation
Rain, snow or fog with more strongly acidic than
pH of 5.6
West Virginia has recorded 1.5
East Tennessee reported 4.2 in 2000
Occurs when sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides
react with water in the atmosphere
Lowers pH of soil which affects mineral
solubility decline of forests
Lower pH of lakes and ponds In the
Western Adirondack Mountains, there are
lakes with a pH <5 that have no fish.