A hydrogen bond forms when the slightly negatively charged

oxygen of one water molecule is attracted to the slightly

positively charged hydrogen of a nearby water molecule.
Hydrogen bonding between water molecules is the basis for
waters properties
Hydrogen bonding keeps water molecules close to each other,
and this cohesion helps pull water upward in the microscopic
water-conducting cells of plants. Hydrogen bonding is also
responsible for waters surface tension.
Water has a high specic heat: Heat is absorbed when hydrogen
bonds break and is released when hydrogen bonds form. This
helps keep temperatures relatively steady, within limits that
permit life. Evaporative cooling is based on waters high heat of
vaporization. The evaporative loss of the most energetic water
molecules cools a surface.
Ice oats because it is less dense than liquid water. This allows
life to exist under the frozen surfaces of lakes and polar seas.
Water is an unusually versatile solvent because its polar
molecules are attracted to charged and polar substances
capable of forming hydrogen bonds. Hydrophilic substances
have an afnity for water; hydrophobic substances do not.
Molarity, the number of moles of solute per liter of solution, is
used as a measure of solute concentration in solutions. A mole
is a certain number of molecules of a substance. The mass of a
mole of a substance in grams is the same as the molecular mass
in daltons.
The emergent properties of water support life on Earth and may
contribute to the potential for life to have evolved on other
planets.
A water molecule can transfer an H to another water molecule
to form H3O(represented simply by H) and OH
The concentration of H is expressed as pH; pH log [H]. Buffers in
biological uids resist changes in pH. A buffer consists of an
acid-base pair that combines reversibly with hydrogen ions.
The burning of fossil fuels increases the amount of CO2 in the
atmosphere. Some CO2 dissolves in the oceans, causing ocean
acidication, which has potentially grave consequences for coral
reefs. The burning of fossil fuels also releases oxides of sulfur
and nitrogen, leading to acid precipitation.
Living matter is made mostly of carbon, oxygen, hydrogen, and
nitrogen, with some sulfur and phosphorus. Biological diversity
has its molecular basis in carbons ability to form a huge
number of molecules with particular shapes and chemical
properties.
Organic compounds were once thought to arise only within
living organisms, but this idea (vitalism) was disproved when
chemists were able to synthesize organic compounds in the
laboratory.
Carbon, with a valence of 4, can bond to various other atoms,

including O, H, and N. Carbon can also bond to other carbon

atoms, forming the carbon skeletons of organic compounds.
These skeletons vary in length and shape and have bonding
sites for atoms of other elements. Hydrocarbons consist only of
carbon and hydrogen.
Isomers are compounds with the same molecular formula but
different structures and properties. Three types of isomers are
structural isomers, cis-trans isomers, and enantiomers.
Chemical groups attached to the carbon skeletons of organic
molecules participate in chemical reactions (functional groups)
or contribute to function by affecting molecular shape
ATP (adenosine triphosphate) consists of adenosine attached to
three phosphate groups. ATP can react with water, forming
inorganic phosphate and ADP (adenosine diphosphate). This
reaction releases energy that can be used by the cell.