AQUEOUS & ACID-BASE

CHEMISTRY
WATER: THE MEDIUM OF LIFE

Water provided conditions for the origin,

evolution, and flourishing of life; water is the
medium of life.

What are the properties of water that render it so

suited to its role as the
medium of life?
 UNUSUAL PROPERTIES OF WATER

1 •substantially higher boiling point

2 • melting point

3 •heat of vaporization

4 •surface tension
The potential to form four H bonds per water molecule is the source of the strong
intermolecular attractions that endow this substance with its anomalously high
boiling point, melting point, heat of vaporization, and surface tension
The average lifetime of an H-bonded
connection between two H2O
molecules in water is 9.5 psec
(picoseconds, where 1 psec =10 neg.12
sec).
Thus, about every 10 psec, the average
H2O molecule moves, reorients, and
interacts with
new neighbors
 The Solvent Properties of Water Derive from Its Polar Nature

Because of its highly polar nature, water is an excellent solvent for ionic substances
such as salts; nonionic but polar substances such as sugars, simple alcohols, and amines;
and carbonyl-containing molecules such as aldehydes and ketones
Each water molecule in the
inner hydration shell around a
Na ion is replaced on average
every 2 to 4 nsec
(nanoseconds, where 1 nsec =
10 neg9 sec) by another H2O.
The process of dissolving such substances is accompanied by significant
reorganization of the water surrounding the solute so that the response
of the solvent water to
such solutes can be equated to “structure making.”
Consequently, the H-bonded water network rearranges toward formation of a local
cage-like (clathrate) structure surrounding each solute molecule.