BRAINCAKEWater as a Habitat
Much of Earth's life lives in water: oceans, rivers, lakes and ponds. The properties of water make these stable places to live.
Stable temperature. Water has a high specific heat capacity, so large bodies of water change temperature slowly between day and night and between seasons. Aquatic organisms experience far smaller temperature changes than organisms on land, so their enzymes work at fairly constant rates.
Ice floats. Water is densest at 4 °C. As it cools further, hydrogen bonds hold the molecules in an open lattice, so ice is less dense than liquid water and forms on the surface. The layer of ice insulates the water beneath, which stays liquid, so fish and other organisms survive the winter.
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Key terms in this lesson
- specific heat capacity
- The amount of energy needed to raise the temperature of one kilogram of a substance by one degree Celsius.
More in Chemistry for Life
- Covalent Bonding
- Important Anions
- Important Cations
- Water
- Water as a Polar Solvent
- Water as a Transport Medium
- Water in Plant Transport Systems
- Water in Hydraulic Mechanisms
All 10 lessons in Chemistry for Life · All Edexcel AS-level Biology topics