• WATER: A VERY UNUSUAL LIQUID

Water is an essential substance to life. It is the most abundant compound on

earth, and comprises about more than 60% of the human body. But it is also one of the
most unusual substances on earth.
The Unique Properties of Water
Water is a good solvent.
A unique property of water is its ability to dissolve a large variety of chemical
substances. It dissolves salts and other ionic compounds, as well as polar covalent
compounds such as alcohols and organic substances that are capable of forming hydrogen
bonds with water.

Gases like oxygen and carbon dioxide will dissolve in water meaning that some
animals do not need to breathe air in order to respire but they must still be able to absorb
oxygen and excrete carbon dioxide. Water is sometimes called the universal solvent because
it can dissolve so many things.

• How you relate this property to the role of water in plant nutrition?
How you relate this property to issues of pollution?
Plants are able to absorb nutrient ions dissolved in water.
Issues can be caused however by the ease of which pollutants from farming and industrial
plants are dissolved.
Water has a high specific heat.
Specific heat is the amount of heat or energy needed to raise the temperature
of one gram of a substance by 1 oC. The specific heat of water is 1 calorie/g-oC (4.18 J/g-
oC), one of the highest for many liquids.
Water can absorb a large amount of heat even if its temperature rises only
slightly. To raise the temperature of water, the intermolecular hydrogen bonds should break.
The converse is also true; water can give off much heat with only a slight decrease in its
temperature. This allows large bodies of water to help moderate the temperature on earth.
Relate this property to changing climate and the capacity of bodies of water to act as
temperature buffer.
In summer months this means that water must absorb a great deal of energy in
the form of heat from the sun in order for the temperature to increase. Since most bodies of
water are large enough not to be significantly affected by the heat from the sun, water
provides an almost constant temperature for the plants and animals living there.
 It takes about 4.5 times greater amount of energy to heat up water than an
equal amount of land. Hence, large bodies of water heat up and cool down more slowly than
adjacent land masses.
The boiling point of water unusually high.
Many compounds similar in mass to water have much lower boiling points. The
strong intermolecular forces in water allow it to be a liquid at a large range of temperatures.
How you relate this property to questions on small water bodies drying up?
Small water bodies like ponds are at risk of drying up in the summer. But since the
amount of energy required to vaporize or evaporate water is so high, this is not expected to
happen quickly.
Solid water is less dense, and in fact floats on liquid water.
Unlike all other liquids, the molecules in solid water are actually farther apart than
they are in liquid water. When solid water forms, the hydrogen bonds result in a very open
structure with unoccupied spaces, causing the solid to occupy a larger volume than the liquid.
This makes ice less dense than liquid water, causing ice to float on water.
How you relate this property to the survival of aquatic organisms in temperate countries?
Water bodies freeze from the top down. If ice is not able to float, the water
bodies would freeze from top to bottom, and aquatic life will be killed. Because ice floats,
aquatic organisms survive under the surface, which remain liquid. The ice surface also acts
as an insulating layer protecting the water beneath from further freezing, and maintains a
temperature adequate for survival. Without this feature, there would be no aquatic life in
temperate and Polar Regions.
• USES OF WATER
• Industrial uses
• Agricultural uses
• Domestic uses
Industrial uses
Industries use vast amounts of water. There is a great demand for water in various processes
involved in industrial manufacturing and production. This demand continuously increases in
bulk as industrialization continues with the increasing population.
In manufacturing industries or factories, the use of water takes place in three ways:
1. Water is part of the product
Example, large amount of water are used in manufacturing soft drinks, beer, pastry
and canned foods as well as in the formulation of drugs, lotions, cleaning agents, etc.
2. Water is used in the processing of the product.
 Example, huge quantities of water are used in making paper, but the greater part of it
does not stay with the product. Water is used in grinding wood chips, mixing the pulp over a
wide screen, but the water is drained off the screen as the paper moves ahead. Other cases are
in the cleaning of containers like bottles and cans where the manufactured products are
packed.
3. Water is used for cooling the product.
Example, the water may be piped through a steel mill to absorb heat from the furnace
and molten metal.
Agricultural uses
Land are irrigated by water from rivers, lakes and artificial reservoirs, but there is
unavoidable need for manmade irrigation and dams and reservoirs. Dams are used by man to
slow down or speed up the flow of water or to stop its flow altogether.
When dams stop the flow, water is usually stored in a lake or reservoir so that people
can make use of it when needed.
Domestic uses
An adult human being has a minimum daily need of two liters of water for drinking.
This is an obvious requirement, but an equally vital one is the large volume of water needed
to sustain his/her other domestic needs like in bathing, household cleaning, watering the
plants and laundry purposes.
Group Research: Make a Fact Sheet
Group assignment on selected topics concerning water. Each groups will create a
fact sheet or a poster showing what they have researched on.
Fact Sheet presented tomorrow for 10 minutes only.
Topics options:
1. Water and the earth. How is water stored on earth? (polar ice, underground, sea
water, atmosphere). How much water does the earth have? How does water shape land?
2. Water and the human body. How does a human being’s water content change
throughout his life? How much water do we consume in our lifetime?
3. The triple point of water (for advanced learners)
4. Water and agriculture
5. Water and electricity production
6. Water and religion/ myths
7. River/Water pollution-Where is it located? What types of pollution are affecting it?
8. Bottled Water Filtration Processes- How are they done?
Thank you!