Chapter 3
Water and the Fitness of
the Environment
PowerPoint Lectures for
Biology, Seventh Edition
Neil Campbell and Jane Reece
Lectures by Chris Romero
Copyright © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings
• Overview: The Molecule That Supports All of
Life
– Water is the biological medium here on Earth
– All living organisms require water more than
any other substance
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• Three-quarters of the Earth’s surface is
submerged in water
• The abundance of water is the main reason the
Earth is habitable
Figure 3.1
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• Concept 3.1: The polarity of water molecules
results in hydrogen bonding
• The water molecule is a polar molecule
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• The polarity of water molecules
– Allows them to form hydrogen bonds with each
other
– Contributes to the various properties water
exhibits
δ–
+ Hydrogen
H bonds
+ δ– H
δ– +
+ δ–
Figure 3.2
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• Concept 3.2: Four emergent properties of
water contribute to Earth’s fitness for life
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Cohesion
• Water molecules exhibit cohesion
• Cohesion
– Is the bonding of a high percentage of the
molecules to neighboring molecules
– Is due to hydrogen bonding
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• Cohesion
– Helps pull water up through the microscopic
vessels of plants
Water conducting cells
Figure 3.3 100 µm
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• Surface tension
– Is a measure of how hard it is to break the
surface of a liquid
– Is related to cohesion
Figure 3.4
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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
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Heat and Temperature
• Kinetic energy
– Is the energy of motion
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• Heat
– Is a measure of the total amount of kinetic
energy due to molecular motion
• Temperature
– Measures the intensity of heat
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Water’s High Specific Heat
• The specific heat of a substance
– Is the amount of heat that must be absorbed or
lost for 1 gram of that substance to change its
temperature by 1ºC
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• Water has a high specific heat, which allows it
to minimize temperature fluctuations to within
limits that permit life
– Heat is absorbed when hydrogen bonds break
– Heat is released when hydrogen bonds form
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Evaporative Cooling
• Evaporation
– Is the transformation of a substance from a
liquid to a gas
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• Heat of vaporization
– Is the quantity of heat a liquid must absorb for
1 gram of it to be converted from a liquid to a
gas
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• Evaporative cooling
– Is due to water’s high heat of vaporization
– Allows water to cool a surface
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Insulation of Bodies of Water by Floating Ice
• Solid water, or ice
– Is less dense than liquid water
– Floats in liquid water
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• The hydrogen bonds in ice
– Are more “ordered” than in liquid water,
making ice less dense
Hydrogen
bond
Ice Liquid water
Figure 3.5 Hydrogen bonds are stable Hydrogen bonds
constantly break and re-form
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• Since ice floats in water
– Life can exist under the frozen surfaces of
lakes and polar seas
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The Solvent of Life
• Water is a versatile solvent due to its polarity
• It can form aqueous solutions
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• The different regions of the polar water
molecule can interact with ionic compounds
called solutes and dissolve them
Negative
oxygen regions
–
of polar water molecules
Na+
are attracted to sodium
+ –
+
cations (Na+). +
– –
Positive
hydrogen regions Na +
–
of water molecules + +
–
cling to chloride anions Cl– Cl
(Cl–). –
+ –
+ –
+ –
–
Figure 3.6
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• Water can also interact with polar molecules
such as proteins
This oxygen is
attracted to a slight
δ– positive charge on
the lysozyme
δ+
This oxygen ismolecule.
attracted to a slight
negative charge on the lysozyme
molecule.
(a) Lysozyme molecule (b) Lysozyme molecule (purple) (c) Ionic and polar regions on the protein’s
in a nonaqueous in an aqueous environment Surface attract water molecules.
Figure 3.7 environment such as tears or saliva
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Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Substances
• A hydrophilic substance
– Has an affinity for water
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• A hydrophobic substance
– Does not have an affinity for water
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Solute Concentration in Aqueous Solutions
• Since most biochemical reactions occur in
water
– It is important to learn to calculate the
concentration of solutes in an aqueous solution
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• A mole
– Represents an exact number of molecules of a
substance in a given mass
• Molarity
– Is the number of moles of solute per liter of
solution
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• Concept 3.3: Dissociation of water molecules
leads to acidic and basic conditions that affect
living organisms
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• Water can dissociate
– Into hydronium ions and hydroxide ions
• Changes in the concentration of these ions
– Can have a great affect on living organisms
+ –
H H
H H +
Figure on p. 53 of water H
H H H
dissociating
Hydronium Hydroxide
ion (H3O+) ion (OH–)
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Effects of Changes in pH
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Acids and Bases
• An acid
– Is any substance that increases the hydrogen
ion concentration of a solution
• A base
– Is any substance that reduces the hydrogen
ion concentration of a solution
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The pH Scale
• The pH of a solution
– Is determined by the relative concentration of
hydrogen ions
– Is low in an acid
– Is high in a base
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• The pH scale and pH values of various
aqueous solutions
pH Scale
0
1 Battery acid
Increasingly Acidic
2 Digestive (stomach)
[H+] > [OH–]
juice, lemon juice
3 Vinegar, beer, wine,
cola
4 Tomato juice
5 Black coffee
Rainwater
6 Urine
Neutral 7 Pure water
[H+] = [OH–] Human blood
8
Increasingly Basic
Seawater
9
[H+] < [OH–]
10
Milk of magnesia
11 Household ammonia
12
Household bleach
13
Oven cleaner
Figure 3.8 14
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Buffers
• The internal pH of most living cells
– Must remain close to pH 7
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• Buffers
– Are substances that minimize changes in the
concentrations of hydrogen and hydroxide ions
in a solution
– Consist of an acid-base pair that reversibly
combines with hydrogen ions
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The Threat of Acid Precipitation
• Acid precipitation
– Refers to rain, snow, or fog with a pH lower
than pH 5.6
– Is caused primarily by the mixing of different
pollutants with water in the air
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• Acid precipitation
– Can damage life in Earth’s ecosystems
0 More
1 acidic
2
3 Acid
4 rain
5 Normal
6 rain
7
8
9
10
11
12
13 More
14 basic
Figure 3.9
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