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Chemical and physical properties of water and its significance to life
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This document explores all about the chemical and physical properties of water, and its importance to life.
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Water as the source of lifeWater is the source of life for all organisms. It has its unique properties which makes
and conserves life. It is also found in different forms such as solid which is ice, liquid
and we usually consume it in that form, also aquatic animals live in it with its majority
being liquid. Then the last form is gas, we experience it usually through evaporation
which we see when water boils, or out of a hot tea and even in plants of which we do
not see transpiration with our naked eyes. This assignment will unpack the unique
things we see about water in our daily lives, we will get to understand why water
tends to stick to a cup even after drinking the whole water, why ice stays on top of
water, how it changes from one form to another, why we get burned by the
immediate contact of hot, how its properties enable it to work effectively in plants,
how does the aquatic animals benefit from water and many more. We will also get to
explore the significant role it plays to us and the other living organisms. Most
importantly we will get to know what makes up water.
The structure of water
• Water is made up of two elements
namely, hydrogen and oxygen but the hydrogens are two.
• The water molecules are triangular shaped and there is uneven distribution of
charges.
, • Oxygen has a higher electronegativity than hydrogen making the O-H bonds
to be polar and results in the oxygen having a partially negative charge and
the hydrogen atoms having partially positive charges. Water as a whole is a
polar molecule.
• The hydrogen atoms together with the oxygen in the water molecule forms an
angle of 104.5 (Vinayagam, n. d).
• The O-H bond energy is 450 kJ/mol (Vinayagam, n. d).
• Water has a high dielectric constant, and therefore has high polarity.
• Water has one of the highest boiling (100 degrees Celsius) and melting points (0
degrees Celsius).
• Water is in its liquid form is between the range of 0-100 degrees Celsius,
hence it is mostly in liquid form on the Earth.
Attraction between water molecules forms the hydrogen bonds and we will get to see
what these hydrogen bonds do (Sharp, 2014). These bonds forms when the
hydrogen of one water molecules is directed towards the lone electron pair of the
other water molecule. These hydrogen bonds are responsible for the role that water
plays on living organisms.
Now that water consist of two hydrogen atoms, this enables it to can form two
hydrogen bonds and oxygen can hold about two to three hydrogens and this makes
the water molecule be able to hold four or five hydrogen bonds. This also add to the
fact that water can act as both an acceptor and a donor of the hydrogen bond. This
also makes water to be able to stabilize other atoms or compounds when in contact
with them. That alone gives water the property of cohesive and adhesive.
Equation of water
2𝐻2+𝑂2 →2𝐻2𝑂
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