New Properties Emerge at Successive

Levels of Biological Organization

• Life can be studied at different levels, from
molecules to the entire living planet
• The study of life can be divided into
different levels of biological organization
Figure 1.3

1 The 7
Biosphere Tissues
6 Organs
2 and Organ
Ecosystems Systems

10
3 Mole-
Communities cules 8
Cells
5
Organisms

4 9 Organelles
Populations
 Biologically important weak bonds
• H ydrophobic interactions
• Van der Waals interactions
– Occur between electrically neutral molecules that
are extremely close
• Cause their outer electrons to begin a synchronous
motion to avoid each other
– Normal repulsion between electrons is lessened
and molecules are weakly bonded
– Important for enzyme reactions
 Biologically important weak bonds
• H ydrogen bonds
• Positive H atom in 1
water molecule is
attracted to negative O in another

• Can occur wherever

an -OH exists in a
larger molecule
• Weak bonds
 Ionic bonds
• Transfer of an electron
• Forms + and - ions
• Weak bond
– Salt dissolves easily in water
 Covalent bonds
• Two atoms need an electron
• Share a pair of electrons
• Strong bond
– Both atoms holding onto the electrons
• Forms molecules
 Double covalent bonds
• Two atoms can share more than one pair of electrons

– Double bonds (2 pairs of electrons)

– Triple bonds (3 pairs of electrons)
• Very strong bonds
 Multiple covalent bonds
• 1 atom can form covalent bonds with two or more
atoms

– Forms larger molecule

 Polar covalent bonds
• Pair of electrons not shared equally by 2 atoms
• Water
– Oxygen has stronger “attraction” for the shared electrons than
hydrogen
– Oxygen has higher electronegativity
– 2 H in the water molecule form an angle
– Water molecule is polar:
• Oxygen end is -
• Hydrogen end is +
Water and the fitness of the
environment
 Importance of water
• Life is completely dependent on water
– 70-90% of all living tissue is water
Properties of water that contribute
to Earth’s suitability for life:
– cohesive behavior
– Versatility as a solvent
– expansion upon freezing
– Ability to moderate temperature
 Cohesion
• Water molecules are linked by multiple H-
bonds. They tend
to stick together
resulting in high surface tension
and capillarity

• Ex. Water transport up plant

stem
• Is a measure of how hard it is to break the
surface of a liquid
 Adhesion
• Water molecules form H bonds with other substances

– Capillary action
– Water climbs up fibers
• Ex. Paper towel
 Water is the solvent of life
• Water is a good solvent due to its polarity ,
which allows it to form H-bonds easily
– Polar H2O molecules surround + and - ions
– Solvents dissolve solutes creating aqueous solutions
 Hydrophilic

• Substances have affinity

for water
• Ionic compounds and
polar molecules dissolve
easily in water
• Ex. sugar and salt
• Even large polar molecules such
as proteins can dissolve in water
if they have large ionic and polar regions
 Hydrophobic
• Substances do not have affinity for water
• Substances that do not dissolve in or repel water

• Important in holding cell membranes together

• Non-polar
 The special case of ice
• Substances are more dense when they are solid
• But not water …. (water becomes less dense)
• Ice floats!
– H bonds form a crystal with loose structure
 Why is “ice floating” important?
• Oceans & lakes don’t freeze solid
– If ice sank…
• Eventually all ponds, lakes & oceans would freeze solid
• During summer, only upper few inches would thaw
– Surface ice insulates water below
• Allowing life to survive the winter
– Seasonal turnover of
lakes
• Cycling nutrients
 Specific heat
• Water has a high specific heat, the amount of heat needed
to raise the temperature of 1 gm of water by 1 C.

– Due to H bonding
• Heat is absorbed when H-bonds break
• Heat is released when H-bonds are formed
• Water resist change in temperature
– Takes a lot to heat it up
– Takes a lot to cool it down
• Water moderates temperatures on Earth
 Fig. 3-5

Burbank San Bernardino

Santa Barbara 73°
90° 100°
Los Angeles Riverside 96°
(Airport) 75° Santa Ana
Palm Springs
70s (°F) 84°
106°
80s Pacific Ocean
90s
100s San Diego 72°

40 miles
 Evaporative Cooling
• Evaporation is transformation of a substance
from liquid to gas
• Heat of vaporization is the heat a liquid must
absorb for 1 g 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
• Organisms relay on heat of
vaporization to remove heat
 Water forms ions
• Hydrogen ion (H+) splits off from water to leave
a hydroxide ion (OH^-)
– H2O H+ + OH-
• If concentration of 2 ions is equal,
water is neutral

• If [H+] > [OH-], water is acidic

• If [OH-] > [H+], water is basic
• pH scale = how acidic or basic a solution is
 pH Scale
• In pure water only 1 water molecule in every 554
million is dissociated
– Very small amount of ions
– [H+] or [OH-] is 10^-7 M
– [H+] [OH-] = 10^-14 M
• pH scale is based on this equation
– In neutral solution
• [H+] = 10-7 pH = 7
– Values for pH decline as [H+] increases

– Acids
• Adding acid increases [H^+]
– Bases
• Adding base increases [OH^-]
 pH & biology
• pH of a neutral solution = 7
• Acidic solutions = pH < 7
Basic solutions = pH > 7
• Most biological fluids have pH 6-8
– pH values in human stomach can reach 2
• Each pH unit represents a 10-fold difference
in H^+ & OH^- concentrations
– Small change in pH actually indicates a substantial
change in [H^+] and [OH^-]
 Buffers
• Buffersare 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+