Chapter 3

Water and the Fitness of

the Environment

PowerPoint® Lecture Presentations for

Biology
Eighth Edition
Neil Campbell and Jane Reece

Lectures by Chris Romero, updated by Erin Barley with contributions from Joan Sharp
Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings
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.

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Why does the abundance of water allow life to exist on the planet Earth?
The polarity of water molecules results in
hydrogen bonding
• opposite ends have opposite charges.

• hydrogen bonds
• Four of water’s properties that facilitate an environment
for life are:
– Cohesive behavior
– Ability to moderate temperature: Stable
– Expansion upon freezing: Less dense Ice floats
– Versatility as a solvent.

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Hydrogen bonds
between
water molecules
–
Hydrogen
+ bond
H

——
O
–
+
——
H
– +
–
+
Water Properties

• Cohesion: hydrogen bonds hold water

molecules together
– Plants: transport of water against gravity

• Adhesion: attraction between different

substances, ie water and plant cell walls
• Surface tension: hard it is to break the surface
of a liquid; related to cohesion

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Water
transport in
plants
Adhesion

Water-conducting
cells

Direction Cohesion
of water
150 µm
movement
Surface Tension
Moderation of Temperature

• Water absorbs heat from warmer air and releases

stored heat to cooler air. STABLE.
• Water can absorb or release a large amount of heat
with only a slight change in its own temperature =
high specific heat.
• Kinetic energy: energy of motion.

• Heat: total amount of kinetic energy due to

molecular motion.
• Temperature: heat intensity from average kinetic
energy
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• calorie: heat required to raise the temperature of 1 g of
water by 1°C.
– “Calories” on food packages

• kilocalories (kcal), 1 kcal = 1,000 cal.

• joule (J) energy unit; 1 cal = 4.184 J

• .

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• specific heat : amount of heat that must be absorbed or
lost for 1 g of that substance to change its temperature by
1ºC
– water = 1 cal/g/ºC; high specific heat = STABLE

• high specific heat  hydrogen bonds

• Heat is absorbed  hydrogen bonds break.

• Heat is released  hydrogen bonds form.

• The high specific heat of water minimizes temperature

fluctuations to within limits that permit life.

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The effect of a large body of water on climate - Stable

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: liquid to gas.

• Heat of vaporization: heat a liquid must

absorb for 1 g to be converted to gas.
• Evaporative cooling: as a liquid evaporates,
its remaining surface cools.
– helps stabilize temperatures in organisms and
bodies of water

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Insulation of Bodies of Water by Floating Ice

• Ice floats: hydrogen bonds in ice are more

“ordered,” less dense.
– greatest density at 4°C.

– If ice sank, all bodies of water would eventually

freeze solid life impossible

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 Ice: crystalline structure and floating barrier

Hydrogen
bond
Ice Liquid water
Hydrogen bonds are stable Hydrogen bonds break and re-form
The Solvent of Life

• solution: homogeneous mixture of substances.

– Solvent: dissolving agent & Solute: dissolved
substance
• aqueous solution: water is the solvent; polarity &
hydrogen bonds
• hydration shell: ionic compound is dissolved in water,
each ion is surrounded by a sphere of water molecules
– Water can also dissolve nonionic polar molecules
and large ionic, polar molecules, proteins

• Colloid: stable suspension of fine particles in a liquid.

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Table salt
dissolving
–
Na+ +
in water +
–
–
+
– –
Na+ –
+ +

Cl– Cl– – +
– +
–
+
–
–
Solute Concentration in Aqueous Solutions

• biochemical reactions occur in water.

– collisions of molecules

– concentration of solutes in aqueous solution

• Molecular mass: sum of all masses of all

atoms in a molecule.
• Avogadro’s number : 6.02 x 1023 daltons = 1 g
– 1 mole (mol) = 6.02 x 1023

• Molarity (M): moles of solute /L of solution

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Acids and Bases and pH

• pH = –log [H+]
– Acidic < 7, basic (alkaline) < 7, or neutral=7
– H2O + H2O  H3O+ + OH-

• Acid: increases H+; Base: reduces H+

• Adding certain solutes, called acids and bases,
modifies the concentrations of H+ and OH– and
changes pH
– drastically affect the chemistry of a cell
– biological fluids have pH values: 6 to 8
• Buffer: mixture of a weak acid and a weak base that
minimize pH changes when an acid or base is added to a
solution
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 Water is in a state of dynamic equilibrium in which
water molecules dissociate at the same rate at which
they are being reformed.

H
H
O H O O H O
H H H H

2H2O Hydronium Hydroxide

ion (H3O+) ion (OH–)
The pH scale pH Scale
and 0

pH values 1
Battery acid
of some
Gastric juice,
Aqueous 2 lemon juice

Increasingly Acidic
H+
Solutions H+

[H+] > [OH–]

+
– H
H+ OH 3 Vinegar, beer,
+
OH– H H+ wine, cola
H+ H+

Acidic 4 Tomato juice

solution
Black coffee
5
Rainwater
6 Urine

OH–
OH– Saliva
Neutral
H+
H + OH–
[H+] = [OH–] 7 Pure water
OH– OH– + Human blood, tears
H+ H+ H
8 Seawater
Neutral
solution
9
Increasingly Basic
[H+] < [OH–]

10
Milk of magnesia
OH–
OH–
11
OH– H+ OH–
OH OH
– – Household ammonia
H + OH–
12
Basic
solution Household
13 bleach
Oven cleaner
14
Threats to Water Quality on Earth

• Acid precipitation: to rain, snow, or fog with a

pH lower than 5.6; Acid rain: pH < 5.6
– caused by mixing of different pollutants with
water in the air
– fall at some distance from the source of
pollutants.
– damage life in lakes and streams.

– acid precipitation on soil chemistry are

contributing to forest decline
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Acid precipitation and its effects on a forest

0 More
1 acidic
2
3 Acid
4 rain
5
Normal
6 rain
7
8
9
10
11
12
13 More
14 basic
• Human activities, burning fossil fuels, threaten
water quality.
– fossil fuel combustion releases CO2

• greenhouse effect

• Acidification of the oceans: decrease in the

ability of corals to form calcified reefs

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 What is
EXPERIMENT
the effect
of
carbonate
ion
concentration
on coral reef
calcification?

RESULTS

40
Calcification rate

per m2 per day)

(mmol CaCO3

20

0
150 200 250 300
[CO32–] (µmol/kg)
Evidence of Water ?

Surface of Mars Surface of Earth

You should now be able to:

1. List and explain the four properties of water

that emerge as a result of its ability to form
hydrogen bonds.
2. Distinguish between the following sets of
terms: hydrophobic and hydrophilic
substances; a solute, a solvent, and a
solution.
3. Define acid, base, and pH.
4. Explain how buffers work.

Copyright © 2008 Pearson Education, Inc., publishing as Pearson Benjamin Cummings