BSC 114 Lecture Notes - Lecture 3: Colloid, Adirondack Mountains, Bicarbonate
8 Apr 2016
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Bsc 114 lecture 3- water and the fitness of the environment. Abundance of water is main reason the earth is habitable. Essential to all known forms of life on earth. Life only occurs where liquid water is available. Most cells are surrounded by water and cells themselves are comprised of about 70-95% water. About 70% of the earth"s surface is covered by water, about 97% of which is in saltwater oceans. A water molecule has unequal charge distribution because oxygen has high electronegativity. Polarity in charge allows water molecules to form hydrogen bonds w/ each other. Hydrogen bonds are weak- constantly broken and reformed. Four properties of water that facilitate an environment for life: Hydrogen bonds hold water molecules together by cohesion- sticking together of molecules or particles of the same substance. Water will adhere to other substances that are charged such as the cell walls of plants.
