Chapter 3

The chemistry of water

Razan abuassaf
Overview: 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 70–95% water
• The abundance of water is the main reason the
Earth is habitable

Razan abuassaf
Concept 3.1: polar covalent bond in water
molecules results in hydrogen bonding
• The water molecule is shaped like a wide V, with
its two hydrogen atoms joined to the oxygen atom
by single covalent bonds.

• Oxygen is more electronegative than hydrogen, so

the electrons of the covalent bonds spend more
time closer to oxygen than to hydrogen; these are
polar covalent bonds

Razan abuassaf
Concept 3.1: polar covalent bond in water
molecules results in hydrogen bonding
• This unequal sharing of electrons and water’s V-
like shape make it a polar molecule.

• polar molecule, meaning that its overall charge is

unevenly distributed. In water, the oxygen of the
molecule has two regions of partial negative
charge (-), and each hydrogen has a partial
positive charge (+).

Razan abuassaf
Razan abuassaf
Concept 3.2: Four emergent properties of water
contribute to Earth’s suitability for life

• Four of water’s properties that facilitate an

environment for life are:
– Cohesive behavior
– Ability to moderate temperature
– Expansion upon freezing
– Versatility as a solvent

Razan abuassaf
1.Cohesion

• Collectively, hydrogen bonds hold water molecules

together, a phenomenon called cohesion
• Cohesion helps the transport of water against
gravity in plants
• Adhesion the clinging of one substance to another.
Adhesion of water by hydrogen bonds to the
molecules of cell walls helps counter the downward
pull of gravity

Razan abuassaf
Razan abuassaf
• Surface tension is a measure of how hard it is to
break the surface of a liquid
• Surface tension is related to cohesion

Razan abuassaf
2.Moderation of Temperature

• Water moderates air temperature by absorbing

heat from air that is warmer and releasing the
stored heat to air that is cooler.

• Water can absorb or release a large amount of

heat with only a slight change in its own
temperature

Razan abuassaf
Temperature and Heat

• Kinetic energy is the energy of motion

• Thermal energy is the kinetic energy associated
with the random movement of atoms or molecules
(reflect the total kinetic energy and depends on the
matters volume )
• Temperature represents the average kinetic energy
of the molecules in a body of matter, regardless of
volume.
• Heat is the thermal energy in transfer from one
body of matter to another.
Razan abuassaf
• in most biological settings, temperature is
measured on the Celsius scale (°C).
• While there are several ways to measure heat
energy, one convenient unit is the calorie (cal).
– One calorie is the amount of heat energy
necessary to raise the temperature of one g of
water by 1°C.
– A calorie is released when 1 g of water cools
by 1°C.

Razan abuassaf
• Another common energy unit, the joule (J), is
equivalent to 0.239 cal.
• Water stabilizes temperature because it has a
high specific heat.

Razan abuassaf
Water’s high specific heat

• The specific heat of a substance is the amount of

heat that must be absorbed or lost for 1 g of that
substance to change its temperature by 1°C.
• The specific heat of water is 1 cal/g.°C.
• Water’s high specific heat is due to hydrogen
bonding.
• Heat must be absorbed to break hydrogen bonds,
and heat is released when hydrogen bonds form.

Razan abuassaf
Water’s high specific heat

• What is the relevance of water’s high specific heat

to life on Earth?
- large body of water can absorb a large amount of heat from the sun in
daytime during the summer and yet warm only a few degrees.
- At night and during the winter, the warm water will warm cooler air.
-Therefore, ocean temperatures and coastal land areas have more
stable temperatures than inland areas.
- Living things are made primarily of water. Consequently, they resist
changes in temperature better than they would if composed of a liquid
with a lower specific heat.

Razan abuassaf
Water’s high specific heat

Razan abuassaf
Evaporative cooling

• Heat of vaporization is the quantity of the heat a

liquid must absorb for 1g of it to be converted from
the liquid to gaseous state.
• As a liquid evaporates, the surface of the liquid
that remains behind cools, a phenomenon called
evaporative cooling.
 This occurs because the “hottest” molecules, those
with greatest kinetic energy, are the most likely to
leave as gas (evaporate).

Razan abuassaf
Evaporative cooling
• Evaporative cooling contributes to the stability of
temperature in lakes and ponds.
• Evaporative cooling provides a mechanism that
prevents terrestrial organisms from overheating.
evaporation of water from the leaves of a plant helps
keep the tissues in the leaves from becoming too warm
in the sunlight.

Evaporation of sweat from human skin dissipates body

heat and helps prevent overheating on a hot day or
activity or when excess heat is generated by strenuous
activity.

Razan abuassaf
3. Floating of Ice on liquid water

• Water is unusual because it is less dense as a

solid than as a cold liquid. Most materials contract
as they solidify, but water expands.
• At temperatures above 4°C, water behaves like
other liquids, expanding as it warms and
contracting as it cools.
• Water reaches its greatest density at 4°C

Razan abuassaf
3. Floating of Ice on liquid water

• As the temperature falls from 4°C to 0°C, water

begins to freeze because more and more of its
molecules are moving too slowly to break
hydrogen bonds
• At 0°C, the molecules become locked into a
crystalline lattice, each water molecule hydrogen
bonded to four partners
• If ice sank, then eventually all ponds, lakes, and
even oceans would freeze solid, making life as we
know it impossible on Earth.

Razan abuassaf
Razan abuassaf
4.The Solvent of Life

• A liquid that is a completely homogeneous mixture

of two or more substances is called a solution.
• 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

Razan abuassaf
• Water is not a universal solvent, but it is very
versatile because of the polarity of water
molecules.
• Water is an effective solvent because it readily
forms hydrogen bonds with charged and polar
covalent molecules.

Razan abuassaf
• For example, when a crystal of salt (NaCl) is
placed in water, the Na+ cations interact with the
partial negative charges of the oxygen regions of
water molecules.
• The Cl- anions interact with the partial positive
charges of the hydrogen regions of water
molecules.
• When an ionic compound is dissolved in water,
each ion is surrounded by a sphere of water
molecules called a hydration shell

Razan abuassaf
Razan abuassaf
• 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

Razan abuassaf
Razan abuassaf
Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Substances

• A hydrophilic substance is one that has an

affinity for water (Love water)
• A hydrophobic substance is one that does not
have an affinity for water and that are nonionic
and nonpolar ( heat water)
• Oil molecules are hydrophobic because they have
relatively nonpolar bonds

Razan abuassaf
Concept 3.3: Acidic and basic conditions affect
living organisms
• a hydrogen atom participating in a hydrogen bond
between two water molecules shifts from one
molecule to the other
– The hydrogen atom leaves its electron behind
and is transferred as a proton, or hydrogen
ion (H+)
– The molecule that lost the proton is now a
hydroxide ion (OH–)
– The molecule with the extra proton is now a
hydronium ion (H3O+), though it is often
represented as H+
Razan abuassaf
• This is a reversible reaction that reaches a state of
equilibrium when water molecules dissociate at
the same rate that they are being reformed from
H+ and OH–.
Razan abuassaf
• In pure water 1 molecule in every 554 million
dissociate
• Changes in concentrations of H+ and OH– can
drastically affect a cell’s proteins and other
complex molecules.

Razan abuassaf
Effects of Changes in pH

• Concentrations of H+ and OH– are equal in pure

water
• Adding certain solutes, called acids and bases,
modifies the concentrations of H+ and OH–
• Biologists use something called the pH scale to
describe whether a solution is acidic or basic (the
opposite of acidic)

Razan abuassaf
Acids and Bases

• An acid is any substance that increases the H+

concentration of a solution
HCl H+ + Cl–
• A base is any substance that reduces the H+
concentration of a solution
NH3 + H+ NH4 +

Razan abuassaf
• 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

Razan abuassaf
Razan abuassaf
Buffers
• The internal pH of most living cells must remain
close to pH 7
• Any changes in pH can be very harmful, the pH
of our blood is 7.4. we will die if our pH chang
to 7 or 7.8
• We have buffer that controls the stability of our
pH
• Buffers are substances that minimize changes
in concentrations of H+ and OH– in a solution

Razan abuassaf
Buffers

• In our blood
CO2 +H2O H2CO3 in the blood plasma
H2CO3 HCO3 - + H+
Carbonic Bicarbonate
acid

• When the [H+] decreases the reaction shift to

right and more dissociation of H2CO3 will occur
• If the [H+] increases the reaction will shift to left
and carbonic acid will be formed.

Razan abuassaf