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Water Essay

Decent Essays

Brittany Roberts AP bio
WATER ESSAY

The first thing water reminds us of is the clear liquid in our water bottles. However, water is more than a normal substance. Water is the beginning and the continual of life on earth. Because of its many unique properties, water was able to start life on our planet. Water covers about 3/4 of the earth. In nature, water naturally exists in all three physical states of matter—solid, liquid and gas. Water's extraordinary properties are emergent properties resulting from water's structure and molecular interactions. Living cells are 70%-95% H2O The simple structure of H2O is the source of all water's properties. With two hydrogen atoms sticking to an oxygen atom in a tetrahedron shape, water is …show more content…

This property is also a direct result of hydrogen bonding. As a liquid evaporates, the surface of the liquid remaining cools down. Evaporative cooling occurs cooling because it is the molecules with the most kinetic energy that leave as a gas. This property of water allows the temperatures in lakes and ponds to remain stable and prevents terrestrial organisms from overheating. Oceans and Lakes Don’t Freeze Solid Because Ice Floats As a solid, water is less dense than as a liquid, because water expands when it solidifies. When molecules are no longer moving quickly enough to break their hydrogen bonds, water begins to freeze. Each molecule is bonded to the maximum four others at 0°C. As a result, the hydrogen bonds keep the molecules further apart than in liquid water. Water is at its greatest density at 4°C. Because of this property, water in lakes does not freeze solid – only the top layer of water freezes. The floating ice zes. insulates the liquid water below and allows life to exist under the frozen surface Water is the Solvent of Life A liquid with a completely homogenous mixture of two or more substances is a solution The solution. dissolving agent is the solvent , and the substance dissolved is the solute. When salt is dissolved in solvent ent, solute. water, salt is the solute and water is the solvent. An aqueous solution is one in which water is the solvent. While water is not a truly

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