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The Universal Solvent: Water

Water is the universal solvent and is essential for life. It has unique properties including being a polar molecule that can form hydrogen bonds, giving it high heat capacity and allowing it to dissolve many other substances. Water regulates temperatures on Earth and makes it habitable for life.

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720 views21 pages

The Universal Solvent: Water

Water is the universal solvent and is essential for life. It has unique properties including being a polar molecule that can form hydrogen bonds, giving it high heat capacity and allowing it to dissolve many other substances. Water regulates temperatures on Earth and makes it habitable for life.

Uploaded by

mdonohueHGHS
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Water

The Universal Solvent


A little bit about water
• Water is the biological medium on Earth
– Universal Solvent
– Solvent: the substance that the solute (salt) is dissovled in (water)
– Solute: substance (salt) that is dissolved in a liquid
– Solution: when solutes are uniformly distributed throughout a water
solvent
• All living organisms require water more than any other substance
• Most cells are surrounded by water, and cells themselves are
about 70-95% water
• The abundance of water is the main reason the Earth is habitable
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
• Water is a versatile solvent due to its polarity
• An aqueous solution is one in which water is the
solvent
Water
• Chemical Formula
• H2O
• How water is formed
• Covalent compound
• Which atom has a stronger pull for electrons?
• The one that is bigger…oxygen
• Electrons are shared but they spend more time around Oxygen
atom than the hydrogen atoms
• This makes water a…
• Polar Molecule
• Uneven sharing of electrons
• slight positive charge by hydrogens
• Slight negative charge by oxygen
• POLARITY
• What do opposites do?
• Water molecules are attracted to other water molecules
to form HYDROGEN BONDS
• Weak attraction between hydrogen atom of one molecule
and an oxygen, nitrogen or sulfur bond of another
molecule.
LE 3-2

Hydrogen
bonds
Water as the Universal Solvent
• Water is an effective solvent because it readily forms
hydrogen bonds
• When an ionic compound is dissolved in water, each ion is
surrounded by a sphere of water molecules, a hydration
shell
• Water can also dissolve compounds made of
nonionic polar molecules
• Even large polar molecules such as proteins can
dissolve in water if they have ionic and polar
regions
LE 3-6

–
Na +
+
+ –
–
+
– –
Na+
–
+ +
Cl– Cl–
+ –
–
+
–
+
–
–
LE 3-7a

Lysozyme molecule
in a nonaqueous environment.
LE 3-7b

Lysozyme molecule in a aqueous environment.


Properties of water

• Cohesive and Adhesive behavior


• Temperature moderation
• Expansion upon freezing
• Versatility as a solvent
• Transpiration:
– Evaporation of water through the leaves of plants
• “stomata” are the tiny pores in the leaves of plants
through which water escapes
• Cohesive and Adhesive behavior
• Cohesion: when similar molecules stick together (droplet
of water)
• hydrogen bonds hold water molecules together
• Cohesion helps the transport of water against gravity in plants
• Adhesion: when unlike molecules stick together (water on
glass)
• Adhesion of water to plant cell walls also helps to counter gravity
• How does water get from roots to the leaves of a tall
tree?
Cohesion accounts for SURFACE
TENSION
• Surface tension is a measure of how hard it is
to break the surface of a liquid
Moderation of Temperature
• 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 temperature
Weather and Water
• Coastal Areas
– During the hot day, the ocean/lake will absorb energy
from the air so that it feels cooler
– At night, when the air is cooler, the water releases all
the stored energy, making it warmer at night
– “moderate” temperature
• Inland areas (no water nearby)
– During the hot day, there is NO water to absorb heat so
it is realllllyy hot (think desert)
– At night, no energy is release, so it gets very cold
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
Water’s High Specific Heat
• The specific heat of a substance is the amount of heat
that must be absorbed or lost for 1 gram of that
substance to change its temperature by 1ºC
• Water’s high specific heat minimizes temperature
fluctuations to within limits that permit life
– Heat is absorbed when hydrogen bonds break
– Heat is released when hydrogen bonds form
Evaporative Cooling

• Evaporation is transformation of a substance from liquid to gas


• Heat of vaporization is the heat a liquid must absorb for 1 gram to be converted to
gas
• As a liquid evaporates, its remaining surface cools, a process called evaporative
cooling
• Evaporative cooling of water helps stabilize temperatures in organisms and bodies of
water
• “Sweating” liquid to gas requires heat…this heat comes from inside our body
• What does the saying “It’s not the heat, it’s the humidity” mean?
• Humidity: water vapor in the air
• If there is more water in the air, it is harder for water molecules to evaporate off
your skin…so how do you feel?
– Hot and sticky!
Insulation of Bodies of Water by
Floating Ice
• Ice floats in liquid water because hydrogen bonds in ice
are more “ordered,” making ice less dense
• If ice sank, all bodies of water would eventually freeze
solid, making life impossible on Earth
Types of Attractions
• Covalent
• Ionic
• Hydrogen
• Van der Waals Forces
– Intermolecular force of attraction
– Due to uneven sharing of electrons in covalent bonds
– Slight attraction between oppositely charged regions of molecules that are closely packed
together
– Holds large molecules together
Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic
Substances
• A hydrophilic substance is one that has an affinity for
water
• A hydrophobic substance is one that does not have an
affinity for water

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