Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
CHAPTER
3
Water an
d the Hydrophob
ic Effect
OUTLINE
A. Water
e
Strength in Numbers
29
E. The Hydrophobic Effect
37
B. Structure of Water
31
Summary
40
C. Properties of Water
No Ordinary
References
41
e
Joe
32
D. Surface Tension
34
A. WATER
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
e
What is so special about water? It is colorless, tasteless, odorless, and extremely abun-
dant. At first glance it would appear that water is as bland and ordinary as any
compound could possibly be. Yet water is the most studied material on Earth and has
been for a very long time. It has been known from early historical records that water is
the most important biochemical in life. Hidden by its deceptively unexciting cloak, water
houses a plethora of subtle, but extraordinary, properties. The basic properties of water
can be found in any general Biology or Biochemistry topic and are summarized nicely
in Wikipedia
[1]
.
Water is the most abundant molecule on earth, comprising 70
75% of the Earth's
surface as liquid and solid. The total volume of the Earth's water is approximately
1,360,000,000 km
3
with 97.2% in oceans, 1.8% as ice, 0.9% in ground water, 0.02% in fresh
water, and 0.001% as water vapor. The abundance of liquid water leaves one with the
presumption that the fluid state is common on earth. In fact fluids are quite rare. The
second most abundant fluid on this planet is petroleum, but even petroleum has its origins
in water-based life.
e
