Explain how the structure of water molecules account for each of the following

properties:

a. Cohesion

b. Adhesion

c. High Specific Heat

d. Floating Ice

e. Good Solvent Properties

f. Dissociation of water molecules

Explain one way that each of the above properties are useful for living systems.

The explanation to each property is given below

Explanation:

As water molecules are composed by two hydrogen atoms and an oxygen atom, they have a high tendency to form hydrogen bonds (a type of bond that results from the interaction between hydrogen of a dipole and an electronegative atom like oxygen, nitrogen or fluorine). The property of water molecules to bond other water molecule through hydrogen bonds is called cohesion; while when water molecules form hydrogen bonds with other kinds of molecules, it is called adhesion.

Because of the high number of hydrogen bonds between water molecules, the energy that must be provided to increase their kinetic energy and consequently the water temperature, is high (it mean the specific heat of water is high). Water represents a great proportion of organisms composition, the fact that it has a high specific heat allows organisms to regulate their temperature when environmental temperature rises.

Water in different agregation states has different densities. This is related with changes in mass/volume relation. When liquid water turn into ice, each water molecule has a specific position with a fixed distance to its neighboring water molecules. As a result, the volume increases and the mass/volume relation (its density) decrease. This property is important in lakes ecosystems for example, as only superficial water converts into ice.

An interesting property that results form the polarity of water molecules, is its high capacity to disolve ionic and polar compounds.