Why does water have a high and specific heat capacity?

When molecules are heated, they get excited. They move around faster as they gain more energy. H2O is a polar molecule (has a plus end and a minus end). This is because the O takes the e- from the H atoms in order to gain a stable octet in a process called hydrogen bonding. Now we have a H2O where the two H atoms are positively charged and the O is negatively charged. Positive attracts to negative and water molecules stick together. They make intermolecular dipole-dipole bonds and these bonds are very strong. Because the molecules are being held tightly in place by these bonds, the H2O molecules don't move much when heated. It takes more and more heat to move the molecules, causing water to have a high specific heat capacity.

The Biological Importance of Water

The first topic that I covered in AS Level Biology was about molecules of biological importance. Water is a substance that is in great abundance on this planet, and it holds some significant importance to our lives. Without it, we could not live, and not simply because we would die of thirst. Some of the notes here are also relevant to AS Chemistry, but be careful, as different specifications might ask for information on different anomalous properties, so make sure you check your exam syllabus! The Properties of Water

Water is a dipolar molecule:

A water molecule consists of two hydrogen atoms and an oxygen atom; however, the electrons in the covalent bonding are not shared equally. The oxygen atom has a greater electronegativity, meaning that it has a greater pull on the electrons. Due to this each water molecule has slightly negative and slightly positive regions.

Water molecules form hydrogen bonds:

The negative and positive ends of water molecules attract each other to form hydrogen bonds. These hydrogen bonds give water many of its unique properties. Compounds with molecules similar to the size of water are usually gases. Since each water molecule can form hydrogen bonds with up to 4 other water molecules, water is a liquid at room temperature.

Water is the universal solvent:

Polar and ionic substances have an electrostatic charge, so they are attracted to the charges on water molecules and dissolve readily. Non-polar substances, such as oil, do not dissolve in water, as they do not have charged molecules. When a salt dissolves in water, the ions separate and a layer of water molecules form around the ions. These layers prevent ions or polar molecules from clumping together, keeping the particles in solution.

Water has a high surface tension:

At an interface between air and water, a water molecule on the surface forms hydrogen bonds with other molecules around and below it, but not with air molecules above it. The unequal distribution of bonds produces a force called surface tension; this causes the water surface to contract and form a surprisingly tough film or skin.

Ice floats on water:

Water is at its most dense at 4oC. When water freezes the hydrogen bonds between the molecules forms a rigid lattice, which holds the molecules further apart than in liquid water. Ice, having expanded when freezing, is less dense than its liquid counterpart and so floats on water.

Water is adhesive and cohesive:

Water is wet because it sticks to things. This is because its molecules can form hydrogen bonds with other polar substances. This is called adhesion. The attraction between molecules of similar substances is called cohesion. In this way water molecules stick together which allows water to enter and move along very narrow spaces, in a process called capillarity.

Important thermal properties:

Water has a high specific heat capacity meaning that it needs to gain a lot of energy to raise its temperature. Conversely it also needs to lose a lot of energy to lower its temperature. Waters specific heat capacity is 4.2 kJ/g/oC Water has a high latent heat of vaporisation which means a lot of energy is required to evaporate it. When it evaporates, water draws thermal energy out of the surface its on, which can be observed in sweating. Water also has a high latent heat of fusion meaning that at 0oC water must lose a lot of thermal energy before it freezes, thus liquid water can reach temperatures of down to -10oC before it forms ice.

Other physical properties of water:

It is transparent to sunlight. It has a relatively high density compared to air. It is difficult to compress. It conducts electricity (when it contains dissolved ions) See if you can think of ways that these properties are important to life. An important part of A Level Biology is being able to write a clear and concise essay on the topics you have covered, particularly as many exam boards set an essay question in each of their papers. Below is an example essay on the importance of water. The Biological Importance of Water

Water has several unique properties that make it vital not only for human beings, but for all living organisms to survive. The most noticeable of its physical properties is that it is a liquid at room temperature, which is unusual for compounds with molecules of a similar atomic

composition. This is due to the hydrogen bonds that form between each water molecule, and up to four others. Water being a liquid at room temperature provides a marine environment for organisms to live in, and also provides a liquid environment inside cells, which holds significant importance as metabolic reactions that are key to life take place in solution. Water molecules are dipolar, meaning they have a positively charged and a negatively charged region. The charges of these areas attract polar and ionic substances that are dissolved in it, and the water molecules form a layer around each charged ion, keeping the substance in solution. Water is known as the universal solvent, this is because it dissolves much more substances than most common solvents. This is of vital significance as all of the metabolic reactions essential for life take place in solution in the cytoplasm of living cells. Another property caused by water molecules being dipolar is that water is adhesive, and this adhesion makes water stick to other polar substances, effectively making it wet. This allows water to move upwards through the very narrow xylem of tall plants, such as trees, against gravity. Continuous columns of water can also be pulled up to the top of trees due to its high tensile strength, meaning that water columns do not break easily. Also important to plants is waters transparency. Water, being transparent and colourless transmits sunlight, enabling aquatic plants to photosynthesis, and also enabling us to see, as our eyes are coated in water. There are also many thermal properties that make water so essential for life, for example its very high specific heat capacity, 4.2kJ/g/oC . This means that a lot of energy needs to be gained, or lost, in order to change the temperature of water, and so the environment inside organisms resists temperature changes that could cause it damage. Water also has a high latent heat of vaporisation which means mean that water needs a lot of energy to evaporate, and so draws this thermal energy from the surface it is on, cooling it as the water evaporates from it (this can be observed when we sweat to cool ourselves). Waters high latent heat of fusion prevents the liquid environment of cells from freezing, and tearing the cells apart, as liquid water temperatures can drop to around -10oC before it begins to freeze.

Why is the molecule of water bipolar and why is it important? The molecule of water is made of two atoms of hydrogen bonded to one atom of oxygen. Now the oxygen atom being electronegative pulls the bonded pair of electrons and hydrogen being electropositive let the electrons to be pulled towards the oxygen atom. So, there is a slight -ive charge on O-atom and slight +ive charge on H-atoms. Now the H-O-H molecule i.e. the water molecule is not linear but at an angle of 109.47 degrees, so according to the law of vector addition there is a net -ive charge on the O-atom and net +ive charge on H-atoms, thus making it a bipolar molecule. It is important because of this bipolar nature only water becomes a universal solvent. Any solute dissolves in a solvent only if its molecules are able to make a bonds with the solvent molecules with bond energy more than its lattice energy (the energy by which the molecules of solute are bonded with each other). When a solute is added to water, its +ive part makes bond with O-atom and the -ive part makes bond with the H-atom (of course these bonds are not permanent but are weak intermolecular H-bonding). Also the highly electronegative O-atom provides high ionising power to water. This property of universal solubility and high ionising power is very important for many of the life's reactions to support life and the living world.

Why water is sticky? The "stickiness" of water on the molecular level is due to something called intermolecular forces, specifically hydrogen bonding in the case of water. In a single molecule of water (an oxygen bonded to two hydrogens), there are two covalent bonds in which electrons are shared. But the electrons between hydrogen and oxygen are not shared equally: oxygen is more electronegative and thus exerts a greater pull on electrons. As a result, the oxygen is slightly negative (due to its pull of negative electrons) and the hydrogens are slightly positive (due to the lack of electrons). In technical terms, this is called a dipole moment. Because the oxygen of one water molecule is slightly negative and the hydrogen of another water molecule is slightly positive, they will attract each other. This attraction is called a hydrogen bond. Because there is a force pulling the two molecules together, additional force is required to pull them appart. This force is what makes water "sticky." Read more: http://wiki.answers.com/Q/Why_is_water_'sticky'#ixzz1vgKBdk3b

Surface tension

Sticky Water
If you could see molecules of water and how they act, you would notice that each water
molecule electrically attracts its neighbors. Each has two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, H20. The extraordinary stickiness of water is due to the two hydrogen atoms, which are arranged on one side of the molecule and are attracted to the oxygen atoms of other nearby water molecules in a state known as "hydrogen bonding." (If the molecules of a liquid did not attract one another, then the constant thermal agitation of the molecules would cause the liquid to instantly boil or evaporate.

Hydrogen atoms have single electrons which tend to

spend a lot of their time "inside" the water molecule, toward the oxygen atom, leaving their outsides naked, or positively charged. The oxygen atom has eight electrons, and often a majority of them are around on the side away from the hydrogen atoms,

making this face of the atom negatively charged. Since opposite charges attract, it is no surprise that the hydrogen atoms of one water molecule like to point toward the oxygen atoms of other molecules. Of course in the liquid state, the molecules have too much energy to become locked into a fixed pattern; nevertheless, the numerous temporary "hydrogen bonds" between molecules make water an extraordinarly sticky fluid.

Within the water, at least a few molecules away from the surface, every molecule is
engaged in a tug of war with its neighbors on every side. For every "up" pull there is a "down" pull, and for every "left" pull there is a "right" pull, and so on, so that any given molecule feels no net force at all. At the surface things are different. There is no up pull for every down pull, since of course there is no liquid above the surface; thus the surface molecules tend to be pulled back into the liquid. It takes work to pull a molecule up to the surface. If the surface is stretched - as when you blow up a bubble - it becomes larger in area, and more molecules are dragged from within the liquid to become part of this increased area. This "stretchy skin" effect is called surface tension. Surface tension plays an important role in the way liquids behave. If you fill a glass with water, you will be able to add water above the rim of the glass because of surface tension.

PROPERTIES OF WATER WIKIPEDIA

Properties Water Properties

The hydrogen bond between water molecules that we talked about in the first section is the reason behind two of water's unique properties: cohesion and adhesion. Cohesion refers to the fact that water sticks to itself very easily. Adhesion means that water also sticks very well to other things, which is why it spreads out in a thin film on certain surfaces, like glass. When water comes into contact with these surfaces, the adhesive forces are stronger than the cohesive forces. Instead of sticking together in a ball, it spreads out. Water also has a high level of surface tension. This means that the molecules on the surface of the water are not surrounded by similar molecules on all sides, so they're being pulled only by cohesion from other molecules deep inside. These molecules cohere to each other strongly but adhere to the other medium weakly. One example of this is the way that water beads up on waxy surfaces, such as leaves or waxed cars. Surface tension makes these water drops round so they cover the smallest possible surface area. Capillary action is also a result of surface tension. As we mentioned, this happens in plants when they "suck up" water. The water adheres to the inside of the plant's tubes, but the surface tension attempts to flatten it out. This makes the water rise and cohere to itself again, a process that continues until enough water builds up to make gravity begin pulling it back down. Water's hydrogen bonds are also why its solid form, ice, can float on its liquid form. Ice is less dense than water because water molecules form crystalline structures at freezing (32

degrees Fahrenheit or 0 degrees Celsius) temperatures. The thermal properties of water are also linked to its hydrogen bonds. Water has a very high specific heat capacity, which is the amount of heat per unit mass required to raise its temperature by one degree Celsius. The energy required to raise the temperature of water by one degree Celsius is 4.2 joules per gram. Water also has a high heat of vaporization, which means that it can take a lot of heat without its temperature rising much. This plays a huge part in the climate, because it means that oceans take a long time to warm up. Water is often known as the universal solvent, which means that many substances dissolve in it. Substances that dissolve in water are hydrophilic. This means that they are as strong or stronger than water's cohesive forces. Salt and sugar are both polar, like water, so they dissolve very well in it. Substances that do not dissolve in water are hydrophobic. This is the source of the saying "oil and water don't mix." Water's solvency is why the water that we use is rarely pure; it usually has several minerals dissolved in it. The presence of these minerals is the difference between hard water and soft water. Hard water usually contains a lot of calcium and magnesium, but may also contain metals. Soap will not lather well in hard water, but hard water isn't usually dangerous. It can also cause lime scale deposits in pipes, water heaters and toilets. Some of the latest controversy about water's properties lies in how ice behaves when it melts. Some scientists claim that it looks about the same as it does when it's solid, except that some of its hydrogen bonds are broken. Others claim that it forms an entirely new structure. So for all of its importance, we still don't completely understand water