LECTURE PRESENTATIONS
For CAMPBELL BIOLOGY, NINTH EDITION
Jane B. Reece, Lisa A. Urry, Michael L. Cain, Steven A. Wasserman, Peter V. Minorsky, Robert B. Jackson
Chapter 3
Water and Life
Lectures by
Erin Barley
Kathleen Fitzpatrick
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Overview: The Molecule That Supports
All of Life
Water is the biological medium on Earth
All living organisms require water more than any
other substance
Most cells are surrounded by water, and cells
themselves are about 7095% water
The abundance of water is the main reason the
Earth is habitable
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Figure 3.1
Concept 3.1: Polar covalent bonds in
water molecules result in hydrogen
bonding
The water molecule is a polar molecule: the
opposite ends have opposite charges
Polarity allows water molecules to form hydrogen
bonds with each other
Animation: Water Structure
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Figure 3.2
Hydrogen
bond
Polar covalent
bonds
Figure 3.UN01
Concept 3.2: Four emergent properties of
water contribute to Earths suitability for life
Four of waters properties that facilitate an
environment for life are
Cohesive behavior
Ability to moderate temperature
Expansion upon freezing
Versatility as a solvent
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Cohesion of Water Molecules
Collectively, hydrogen bonds hold water
molecules together, a phenomenon called
cohesion
Cohesion helps the transport of water against
gravity in plants
Adhesion is an attraction between different
substances, for example, between water and
plant cell walls
Animation: Water Transport
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Figure 3.3
Adhesion
Two types of
water-conducting
cells
Cohesion
Direction
of water
movement
300 m
Figure 3.3a
Two types of
water-conducting
cells
300 m
Surface tension is a measure of how hard it is
to break the surface of a liquid
Surface tension is related to cohesion
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Figure 3.4
Moderation of Temperature by Water
Water absorbs heat from warmer air and
releases stored heat to cooler air
Water can absorb or release a large amount of
heat with only a slight change in its own
temperature
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Heat and Temperature
Kinetic energy is the energy of motion
Heat is a measure of the total amount of kinetic
energy due to molecular motion
Temperature measures the intensity of heat
due to the average kinetic energy of molecules
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The Celsius scale is a measure of temperature
using Celsius degrees (C)
A calorie (cal) is the amount of heat required to
raise the temperature of 1 g of water by 1C
The calories on food packages are actually
kilocalories (kcal), where 1 kcal = 1,000 cal
The joule (J) is another unit of energy where
1 J = 0.239 cal, or 1 cal = 4.184 J
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Waters High Specific Heat
The specific heat of a substance is the amount of
heat that must be absorbed or lost for 1 g of that
substance to change its temperature by 1C
The specific heat of water is 1 cal/g/C
Water resists changing its temperature because of
its high specific heat
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Waters high specific heat can be traced to
hydrogen bonding
Heat is absorbed when hydrogen bonds break
Heat is released when hydrogen bonds form
The high specific heat of water minimizes
temperature fluctuations to within limits that permit
life
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Figure 3.5
Los Angeles
(Airport) 75
70s (F)
80s
90s
100s
San Bernardino
100
Riverside 96
Santa Ana
Palm Springs
84
106
Burbank
90
Santa Barbara 73
Pacific Ocean 68
San Diego 72
40 miles
Evaporative Cooling
Evaporation is transformation of a substance from
liquid to gas
Heat of vaporization is the heat a liquid must
absorb for 1 g to be converted to gas
As a liquid evaporates, its remaining surface
cools, a process called evaporative cooling
Evaporative cooling of water helps stabilize
temperatures in organisms and bodies of water
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Floating of Ice on Liquid Water
Ice floats in liquid water because hydrogen bonds
in ice are more ordered, making ice less dense
Water reaches its greatest density at 4C
If ice sank, all bodies of water would eventually
freeze solid, making life impossible on Earth
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Figure 3.6
Hydrogen bond
Ice:
Hydrogen bonds
are stable
Liquid water:
Hydrogen bonds
break and re-form
Figure 3.6a
Water: The Solvent of Life
A solution is a liquid that is a homogeneous
mixture of substances
A solvent is the dissolving agent of a solution
The solute is the substance that is dissolved
An aqueous solution is one in which water is
the solvent
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Water is a versatile solvent due to its polarity,
which allows it to form hydrogen bonds easily
When an ionic compound is dissolved in water,
each ion is surrounded by a sphere of water
molecules called a hydration shell
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Figure 3.7
Na
Na
Cl
Cl
Water can also dissolve compounds made of
nonionic polar molecules
Even large polar molecules such as proteins can
dissolve in water if they have ionic and polar
regions
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Figure 3.8
Hydrophilic and Hydrophobic Substances
A hydrophilic substance is one that has an
affinity for water
A hydrophobic substance is one that does not
have an affinity for water
Oil molecules are hydrophobic because they
have relatively nonpolar bonds
A colloid is a stable suspension of fine particles
in a liquid
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Solute Concentration in Aqueous Solutions
Most biochemical reactions occur in water
Chemical reactions depend on collisions of
molecules and therefore on the concentration of
solutes in an aqueous solution
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Molecular mass is the sum of all masses of all
atoms in a molecule
Numbers of molecules are usually measured in
moles, where 1 mole (mol) = 6.02 x 1023
molecules
Avogadros number and the unit dalton were
defined such that 6.02 x 1023 daltons = 1 g
Molarity (M) is the number of moles of solute per
liter of solution
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Possible Evolution of Life on
Other Planets with Water
The remarkable properties of water support life
on Earth in many ways
Astrobiologists seeking life on other planets are
concentrating their search on planets with water
To date, more than 200 planets have been found
outside our solar system; one or two of them
contain water
In our solar system, Mars has been found to
have water
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Figure 3.9
Concept 3.3: Acidic and basic
conditions affect living organisms
A hydrogen atom in a hydrogen bond between
two water molecules can shift from one to the
other
The hydrogen atom leaves its electron behind
and is transferred as a proton, or hydrogen
ion (H+)
The molecule with the extra proton is now a
hydronium ion (H3O+), though it is often
represented as H+
The molecule that lost the proton is now a
hydroxide ion (OH)
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Water is in a state of dynamic equilibrium in
which water molecules dissociate at the same
rate at which they are being reformed
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Figure 3.UN02
2 H 2O
Hydronium
ion (H3O+)
Hydroxide
ion (OH)
Though statistically rare, the dissociation of
water molecules has a great effect on
organisms
Changes in concentrations of H+ and OH can
drastically affect the chemistry of a cell
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Concentrations of H+ and OH are equal in pure
water
Adding certain solutes, called acids and bases,
modifies the concentrations of H+ and OH
Biologists use something called the pH scale to
describe whether a solution is acidic or basic
(the opposite of acidic)
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Acids and Bases
An acid is any substance that increases the H+
concentration of a solution
A base is any substance that reduces the H+
concentration of a solution
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The pH Scale
In any aqueous solution at 25C the product of H +
and OH is constant and can be written as
[H+][OH] = 1014
The pH of a solution is defined by the negative
logarithm of H+ concentration, written as
pH = log [H+]
For a neutral aqueous solution, [H+] is 107, so
pH = (7) = 7
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Acidic solutions have pH values less than 7
Basic solutions have pH values greater than 7
Most biological fluids have pH values in the range
of 6 to 8
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Figure 3.10
H+
+
H
H+ OH
+
OH H H+
H+ H+
Acidic
solution
Increasingly Acidic
[H+] > [OH ]
pH Scale
0
1
Battery acid
Gastric juice, lemon juice
Vinegar, wine,
cola
Tomato juice
Beer
Black coffee
5
6
OH
OH
+
H
H+ OH
OH
OH
+
H+ H+ H
Neutral
solution
OH
OH
OH H+ OH
OH OH
OH
+
H
Basic
solution
Neutral
[H+] = [OH ]
7
8
Increasingly Basic
[H+] < [OH ]
Rainwater
Urine
Saliva
Pure water
Human blood, tears
Seawater
Inside of small intestine
9
10
Milk of magnesia
11
Household ammonia
12
13
14
Household
bleach
Oven cleaner
Figure 3.10a
Figure 3.10b
Figure 3.10c
Figure 3.10d
Buffers
The internal pH of most living cells must remain
close to pH 7
Buffers are substances that minimize changes
in concentrations of H+ and OH in a solution
Most buffers consist of an acid-base pair that
reversibly combines with H+
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Acidification: A Threat to Water Quality
Human activities such as burning fossil fuels
threaten water quality
CO2 is the main product of fossil fuel combustion
About 25% of human-generated CO2 is absorbed
by the oceans
CO2 dissolved in sea water forms carbonic acid;
this process is called ocean acidification
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Figure 3.11
CO2
CO2 + H2O
H2CO3
H2CO3
H+ + HCO3
H+ + CO32
CO32 + Ca2+
HCO3
CaCO3
As seawater acidifies, H+ ions combine with
carbonate ions to produce bicarbonate
Carbonate is required for calcification
(production of calcium carbonate) by many
marine organisms, including reef-building
corals
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Figure 3.12
(a)
(b)
(c)
Figure 3.12a
(a)
Figure 3.12b
(b)
Figure 3.12c
(c)
The burning of fossil fuels is also a major source
of sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides
These compounds react with water in the air to
form strong acids that fall in rain or snow
Acid precipitation is rain, fog, or snow with a pH
lower than 5.2
Acid precipitation damages life in lakes and
streams and changes soil chemistry on land
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Figure 3.UN03
Figure 3.UN04
Ice: stable hydrogen bonds
Liquid water: transient
hydrogen bonds
Figure 3.UN05
0
Acidic
[H+] > [OH]
Neutral
[H+] = [OH]
Basic
[H+] < [OH]
Acids donate H+ in
aqueous solutions.
7
Bases donate OH
or accept H+ in
aqueous solutions
14
Calcification rate
(mmol CaCO3/m2 day)
Figure 3.UN06
40
20
0
200
250
[CO32 ] (mol/kg)
Figure 3.UN07
Figure 3.UN08
Figure 3.UN09
