Properties of Water

Front

What is a polar molecule?

Back

A molecule with electrically charged areas, such as water, which has a partial positive charge on one side and a partial negative charge on the other.

Front

What is high heat capacity?

Back

The energy needed to raise 1 gram of water by 1 degree Celsius.

Front

What causes water to travel up from the roots of a tree to the top?

Back

Adhesion and cohesion working together create capillary action, allowing water to move along or through a substance.

Front

What is the effect of the low density of frozen water in a lake?

Back

When water in a lake freezes, it floats, providing insulation for organisms below.

Front

What characteristic of water allows a paperclip to float on its surface?

Back

Surface tension due to cohesion.

Front

What is cohesion in the context of water?

Back

The attraction between water molecules that allows them to stick together.

Front

What is adhesion in the context of water?

Back

The attraction between water molecules and other substances, allowing water to stick to surfaces.

Front

What is capillary action?

Back

The ability of water to move through narrow spaces against gravity, due to adhesion and cohesion.

Front

Why does ice float on water?

Back

Ice is less dense than liquid water, which is why it floats.

Front

What is surface tension?

Back

The cohesive force at the surface of a liquid that makes it behave like a stretched elastic membrane.