Technological University of the Philippines

Ayala Blvd., Ermita, Manila

College of Science
Chemistry Department

BIOCHEMISTRY: PROPERTIES OF WATER

John Morrel D. Miranda

BAS-LT 3B

Prof. Irmalyn Santos

Principles of Biochemistry/Water: The solvent of the cell

Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. Its molecule contains one
oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient
conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state (water vapor
or steam). Water is widely distributed on Earth as freshwater and salt water in the oceans. The
Earth is often referred to as the "blue planet" because when viewed from space it appears blue.
This blue color is caused by reflection from the oceans which cover roughly 70% of the area of
the Earth. The oceanic crust is young, thin and dense, with none of the rocks within it dating
from any older than the breakup of Pangaea. Because water is much denser than any gas, this
means that water will flow into the "depressions" formed as a result of the high density of
oceanic crust. (On a planet like Venus, with no water, the depressions appear to form a vast plain
above which rise plateaux). Since the low density rocks of the continental crust contain large
quantities of easily eroded salts of the alkali and alkaline earth metals, salt has, over billions of
years, accumulated in the oceans as a result of evaporation returning the fresh water to land as
rain and snow. As a result, the vast bulk of the water on Earth is regarded as saline or salt water,
with an average salinity of 35 (or 3.5%, roughly equivalent to 35 grams of salts in 1kg of
seawater), though this varies slightly according to the amount of runoff received from
surrounding land. In all, oceanic water, saline water from marginal seas, and water from saline
closed lakes amounts to over 98% of the water on Earth, though no closed lake stores a globally
significant amount of water. Renewable saline groundwater is believed to total at least 100 km
globally, but is seldom considered except when evaluating water quality in arid regions. The
remainder of the Earth's water constitutes the planet's fresh water resource. Typically, fresh water
is defined as water with a salinity of less than 1 percent that of the oceans - i.e. below around
0.35. Water with a salinity between this level and 1 is typically referred to as marginal water
because it is marginal for many uses by humans and animals. The planet's fresh water is also
very unevenly distributed. Although in warm periods such as the Mesozoic and Paleogene when
there were no glaciers anywhere on the planet all fresh water was found in rivers and streams,
today the distribution is approximately as follows: Ice caps and glaciers - 68.7%, of which
Antarctic ice cap - 90%, 9700 years renewal interval Greenland ice cap - 9% Other glaciers <1%, 1600 years renewal interval Groundwater - 30.1%, 1400 year renewal interval Surface
water - 0.3%, of which Freshwater lakes - 87%, 17 years renewal interval Swamps - 11% Rivers
- 2%, 16 days renewal interval Ground ice and permafrost - 0.86% Atmosphere 0.04% Of these
sources, only river water is generally valuable. Most water in lakes is in very inhospitable
regions such as glacial lakes of Canada. Lake Baikal and Lake Khvsgl, both protected from
Quaternary glaciation by aridity, have equivalent amounts of water, and the latter has been used
in Mongolia as a source of drinking water.. Although the total volume of groundwater is known
to be much greater than that of river runoff, a large proportion of this groundwater is saline and
should therefore be classified with the saline water above. There is also a lot of fossil
groundwater in arid regions that has never been renewed for thousands of years; this must not be
seen as renewable water. However, fresh groundwater is of great value, especially in arid
countries such as India. Its distribution is broadly similar to that of surface river water, but it is
easier to store in hot and dry climates because groundwater storages are much more shielded
from evaporation than are dams. In countries such as Yemen, groundwater from erratic rainfall

during the rainy season is the major source of irrigation water. Because groundwater recharge is
much more difficult to accurately measure than surface runoff, groundwater is not generally used
in areas where even fairly limited levels of surface water are available. Even today, estimates of
total groundwater recharge vary greatly for the same region depending on what source is used,
and cases where fossil groundwater is exploited beyond the recharge rate (including the Ogallala
Aquifer) are very frequent and almost always not seriously considered when they were first
developed.
PROPERTIES OF WATER
Water appears in nature in all three common states of matter and may take many different
forms on Earth: water vapor and clouds in the sky; seawater and icebergs in the polar oceans;
glaciers and rivers in the mountains; and the liquid in aquifers in the ground. At high
temperatures and pressures, such as in the interior of giant planets, it is argued that water exists
as ionic water in which the molecules break down into a soup of hydrogen and oxygen ions, and
at even higher pressures as superionic water in which the oxygen crystallises but the hydrogen
ions float around freely within the oxygen lattice. The major chemical and physical properties of
water are: Water is a liquid at standard temperature and pressure. It is tasteless and odorless. The
intrinsic color of water and ice is a very slight blue hue, although both appear colorless in small
quantities. Water vapor is essentially invisible as a gas. Water is transparent in the visible
electromagnetic spectrum. Thus aquatic plants can live in water because sunlight can reach them.
Ultra-violet and infrared light is strongly absorbed.
Since the water molecule is not linear and the oxygen atom has a higher electronegativity
than hydrogen atoms, it carries a slight negative charge, whereas the hydrogen atoms are slightly
positive. As a result, water is a polar molecule with an electrical dipole moment. Water also can
form an unusually large number of intermolecular hydrogen bonds (four) for a molecule of its
size. These factors lead to strong attractive forces between molecules of water, giving rise to
water's high surface tension and capillary forces. The capillary action refers to the tendency of
water to move up a narrow tube against the force of gravity. This property is relied upon by all
vascular plants, such as trees.
Water is a good solvent and is often referred to as the universal solvent. Substances that
dissolve in water, e.g., salts, sugars, acids, alkalis, and some gases especially oxygen, carbon
dioxide (carbonation) are known as hydrophilic (water-loving) substances, while those that do
not mix well with water (e.g., fats and oils), are known as hydrophobic (water-fearing)
substances.

All the major components in cells (proteins, DNA and polysaccharides) are also dissolved in
water.
Pure water has a low electrical conductivity, but this increases significantly with the
dissolution of a small amount of ionic material such as sodium chloride.
Reference:
Principles of Biochemistry/Water: The solvent of the cell . (2014). Retrieved on
November 17, 2014 from
http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Principles_of_Biochemistry/Water:_The_solvent_of_the_cell

Chemical principles: Properties of water

Written by: Gemma Bridge from Birmingham University,
Importance of water
Water (H2O) is one of the most abundant chemical compounds on earth, covering 70% of
the earth's surface, and is essential to all life. After carbon, water is the most crucial substance to
sustaining life. For example humans are made up of over 70% water, with the brain being
composed of over 80% water. There are a number of properties of water which are particularly
important to biological life. The properties are largely the result of the extensive hydrogen bonds
between molecules in water. These bonds are strong enough to produce the characteristic
properties but are also easily broken to allow water molecules to move around or change
between states.
Three forms of water
In nature water can naturally occur in three states; it can exist as a liquid (water), a gas
(water vapor) and as a solid (ice). At standard temperatures and pressures, water exists in a state
of dynamic equilibrium between its liquid and gaseous states. Ice, the solid form of water, only
exists at relatively low temperatures (below water's freezing point of zero degrees Celsius).
Although under standard conditions water in its liquid state is the most commonly
recognized form, it is not, theoretically the predicted state for water to exist in. If water's
similarity to other analogous hydrides is considered then water should exist as a gas under
standard conditions, and not as a liquid. For example hydrogen sulphide, which is chemically
very similar to water, and is also a hydride, does not exist as a liquid under standard conditions,
but as a gas. This property is a result of the polarity of water, described below, which leads to
hydrogen bonding and strong interactions between water molecules.

Solid, liquid and gaseous forms of water

Structure of a water molecule

water molecule is composed of a central oxygen atom that has two hydrogen atoms
bound to it by covalent bonds. The covalent bonds are the result of a sharing of a pair of
electrons between the oxygen and hydrogen atoms. In forming these bonds only two of the six
outer electrons on oxygen are used, this leaves the other four electrons free to form covalent
bonds with other water molecules. The four electrons that do not bond with the hydrogen atoms
on the same water molecule pair up and then position themselves as far apart from each other as
possible.
Normally this would result in a tetrahedral geometry in which the angle between the two
electron pairs and therefore between the oxygen and two hydrogen atoms, would be 109
degree's, however because the two non-bonding free electron pairs stay closer to the oxygen
atom they exert a repulsion against the covalently bonded pairs of electrons. This pushes the
hydrogen atoms closer together than would be expected and results in the characteristic 105
degree angle seen between the oxygen and hydrogen atoms in water.
Electronegativity
Each water molecule is composed of one oxygen atom that is covalently bonded to two
hydrogen atoms. The oxygen atom is strongly electronegative as a result of a strong attraction
between electrons and the oxygen atom. This attraction is greater than the attraction between
electrons and the hydrogen atoms. As a result there is a net negative charge on the oxygen atom
and a net positive charge on the hydrogen atom. This difference in charge results in each water
molecule having a net dipole moment. The net dipole on each water molecule produces an
attraction. This attraction is called a hydrogen bond.

Hydrogen bonding
Hydrogen bonds occur as a result of an attraction between water molecules due to their
net dipole moments and can be referred to as an electrostatic dipole-dipole interaction. The
hydrogen bonds are relatively strong bonds when they occur in a large number, and they are able
to pull the water molecules closer together this makes it harder to separate the water molecules
and is the reason for water's high boiling point (100 Celsius) compared to the other 16 hydrides.
Each water molecule is able to form hydrogen bonds with up to four other water
molecules. This is because the oxygen atom in each water molecule has two lone pairs of
electrons, and each electron is able to form a hydrogen bond with a hydrogen atom on another
water molecule. However not all of the water molecules are held together by hydrogen bonds
when water is in the liquid state. This means that individual water molecules are able to move
about in relation to one another and allows the liquid to flow. In addition hydrogen bonds are
constantly being made and broken, this also allows movement of the water molecules. Hydrogen
bonds are responsible for the characteristic crystal lattice structure of ice.

Density
The density of the solid form of water; ice, is less than that of the density of the liquid
form at the same temperature, with liquid water having a density of one gram per cubic
centimetre. This is a very unusual characteristic for a compound especially if compared to other
natural compounds, which usually have a more dense solid form than their liquid forms. Usually,
for most natural compounds, the solid form sinks when placed in the liquid form, however in
terms of water, with its unusual density characteristics, ice is able to float on top of the liquid
water.
Water's unusual characteristics in terms of density do not become apparent until the water
is cooled below four Celsius. This is because when cooled from room temperature water follows
the predicted pattern of most natural compounds, and its density increases. However when the
water reaches four degrees Celsius the water reaches a maximum density. If the water is then

cooled further, becoming ice, the water expands and becomes less dense. In fact, when the water
turns into ice it's density is decreased by 9%, compared to the maximum density at four degrees
Celsius.
The decrease in density below four degrees Celsius is very unusual and is called negative
thermal expansion. It has been suggested that the reason for this unusual characteristic is due to
the strong, orientation dependant hydrogen bonds that occur between the water molecules. The
normal intermolecular vibrations that occur in the hydrogen bonds are cooled with the decrease
in temperature of the water, and allows steady hydrogen bonds to form between neighbouring
water molecules which locks the molecules in place. A hexagonal, crystal lattice structure forms,
with shorter hydrogen bonds between the water molecules and ice is produced.
These properties are important for water's role on earth, and have important consequences
for ecosystems. As water at four degree's Celsius is at the maximum density it always
accumulates at the bottom of lakes and ponds, no matter what the atmospheric temperature is. In
addition as both water and ice are good insulators and are therefore poor conductors of heat it
means that it is unlikely that deep lakes will freeze completely (unless there are strong currents
which mix up the water from the top and bottom of the lake and increase the rate of cooling.) In
addition as ice can float on top of the water it can act as an additional layer of insulation to the
water below, further reducing the loss of heat. As a consequence, aquatic life is able to survive in
lakes in the winter, despite atmospheric temperatures dropping below freezing.
Cohesion and adhesion

Cohesion is the attraction between water molecules. Cohesive attractive forces are
responsible for the characteristic surface tension of water. This allows insects to run across the
waters surface without breaking the surface.

Adhesion is the attraction between molecules of water and molecules of another

substance. Adhesive forces when combined with surface tension can result in a phenomenon
known as capillary action. This action results in the movement of water up a narrow tube, against
the force of gravity for example in the xylem vessels of plants.
Capillary action occurs because water molecules adhere to the inside wall of the tube.
The molecules are pulled up the tube by surface tension which tends to try to straighten the
waters surface. Additional water molecules are pulled up the tube as a result of cohesion. This
action is very important in plants and is aided by transpiration pull.
Surface tension
Cohesive forces between water molecules are the result of the polar nature of water
molecules. Most of the water molecules in the liquid form of water are covalently bonded to four
other water molecules that surround them. However the molecules on the surface of water cannot
form bonds to four other molecules. Instead the surface molecules form stronger bonds to the
molecules at the surface, that are closest to them.
This strong attraction between the molecules on either side of the surface molecules
results in the formation of a film. This film makes it difficult for objects to pass through the
water surface. However once objects have passed the surface, they can move more easily through
the liquid when fully submerged because the cohesive forces within the liquid are weaker.
Surface tension decreases with temperature, and also decreases with detergents and soaps.

Specific heat capacity and heat of vaporisation

Heat capacity is the measurable physical quantity that characterises the amount of heat
that is required to change a substances temperature by a given amount. For water this is
measured as the amount of heat per unit mass needed to raise the temperature of the water by one
degree Celsius. Water has a high specific heat capacity at one calorie per gram (i.e. one calorie is

needed to raise the temperature of one gram of water by one degree Celsius). This heat capacity
is one of the highest of all natural common substances.
As a result of the very high specific heat capacity of water, its role in temperature
regulation is very important. For example water helps to moderate the earth's climate by
buffering and preventing against large fluctuations in temperature. In addition water has a high
heat of vaporisation. Both waters high specific heat capacity and its high heat of vaporisation
properties are due to the extensive hydrogen bonding in water. This is because the hydrogen
bonds provide a place where heat can be stored. The heat is stored as potential energy, even at
relatively low temperatures.
Water as a universal solvent
As many substances can dissolve in water it is often referred to as the universal solvent.
Due to the number of substances that can dissolve in water it is very rare in nature to find pure
water. As a consequence of this, some of the properties of water that have been described above,
may be different in natural sources of water due to the substances that are dissolved in it.
The reason why water is such as good solvent is due to the dipole, polar nature of the
water molecules, which allow water molecules to be attracted to each other, but also to other
polar molecules. As such water molecules are able to form charge-charge attractions with other
polar molecules. Molecules able to form such bonds in water are called hydrophilic (or waterloving). When water surrounds non-polar molecules it cannot bind with them and rotates to
maximise bonding with itself. This results in a more ordered conformation and consequently a
decrease in entropy. This state is energetically unfavourable, so these molecules are called
hydrophobic (water-hating).
For example salt, or sodium chloride is able to dissolve in water. This is because the
molecule is composed of ions which makes the molecule polar in nature, with positive and
negative charges on the molecule, as a result of a positively charged sodium atom and a
negatively charged chloride atom. When mixed into water the salt dissolves because the chloride
and sodium atoms are held together by ionic bonds which are over come by the stronger
hydrogen bonds in water.
The dissolving process involves the positively charged side of the water molecule, the
hydrogen atoms, becoming attracted to the negatively charged chloride ions and the negatively
charged oxygen atom in water becoming attracted to the positively charged sodium ions in salt.
The attractions result in the water molecules pulling the sodium and chloride ions apart as the
ionic bonds between them are overcome and broken. Following the breakup of the salt molecule
the separated sodium and chloride ions are surrounded by water molecules (a solvation shell).
References:
Tysoe, O. (2012) Proteins: Ion transport. Fastbleep.com Biochemistry Chapter. Description of
how solvation shells affect ion channel selectivity.
H. R. Horton, L. A. Moran, K. G. Scrimgeour, M. D. Perry, J. D. Rawn (2006) Principles of
Biochemistry (4th ed.) New Jersey : Pearson Education, Inc., chap 19 ; pg 583 -604
Campbell, N. and Reece, J. (2005) Biology 7th Edition. Pearson Education Inc.