Top 10: Properties of Water, Carbon and Functional Groups

By Hannah Greenwood & Hanna Jang

Water
1. Solvent

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

a. Polar molecules surrounds positive and negative ions to

pull them apart. Due to being a charged molecule, water can pull apart
substances.
High Cohesion
a. Water molecules attract other water molecules.
b. Harder to break surface tension, which allows some things
to float on water even if theyre denser than water.
Adhesion
a. Water clings to other substances.
b. Able to defy gravity and travel up small spaces,which is
called capillary action.
Transpiration
a. The process of where water is pulled up from the roots,
then pulled up from the xylem and distribute water to the leaves.
b. Built on cohesion and adhesion.
Expands when Frozen
a. As temperatures decrease, water molecules start to
vibrate. As they vibrate, hydrogen bonds are able to create even space
between molecules, making ice less dense so it floats.
b. A layer of ice insulates the underlying water, allowing
many aquatic organisms to survive through the winter.
Resists Temperature Change
a. Has a high specific heat capacity, which requires more
heat to increase its temperature than other liquids.
b. Heat is absorbed when H bonds break and heat is
released when H bonds form. Hydrogen

Carbon
7. Organic Molecules
a. Contains Carbon
b. Large covalent molecules
c. Plays a role in living things
8. Carbon
a. Has four valence electrons and may form single, double,
triple, or quadruple bonds.
b. May bond to itself forming carbon chains and vary in
length and shape.
9. Isomers
a. Molecules with same molecular formula but different
structures
b. Structural Isomers
i.
Same molecular formula but the atoms are
connected differently.
ii.
Different physical and chemical properties
iii.
Geometric Isomers

1. Same molecular formula and

the same connectivity but different spatial arrangements
2. Due to inflexibility of a bond,
usually either, double bonds or bonds that cant rotate.
iv.
Enantiomeric Isomers
1. Differ in arrangement around an
asymmetric carbon (mirror images).
Functional Groups
10.They are the chemically reactive groups of atoms within an organic
molecule
a. Give organic molecules distinctive chemical properties.
i.
Hydroxyl (OH or HO-)
1. Polar, hydrophilic
2. Found in sugars
ii.
Carbonyl (C=O )
1. Polar, hydrophilic
2. Found in sugars
iii.
Carboxyl (COOH)
1. Polar, weak acid, hydrophilic
iv.
Amino (-NH2)
1. Polar, weak base, hydrophilic
v.
Sulfhydryl (SH or HS-)
1. Helps stabilize tertiary structure
and form disulfide bridges.
vi.
Phosphate (PO)
1. Transfers energy between
organic molecules
2. Polar, acid, hydrophilic
vii.
Methyl
1. Non-polar, hydrophobic
2. Can be attached to carbon or to
different atom