Water
H2O
What is it all about?
Water Facts
 Water covers about 70% of the earths surface.
 Water is the most abundant molecule in the human
body.
 Pure water has no smell and no taste, it also has a pH
level around 7
 To maintain proper hydration, one should drink 8, 8oz
glasses of water a day.
Mystery Question
How does water walk the line?
Please use your prior knowledge to explain how you
think water “walks the line”. (At least two sentences)
Water Olympics – An Exploration
of Properties of Water
During this exploration you will be “playing” with water
with the intention to observe many of waters amazing
physical properties. The purpose is to find out why living
things depend on it to survive.
Event 1 Pole Vaulting
Make a prediction on how many pennies it will take to
cause water to spill over the top. Fill a clear plastic cup
with water until it is even with the rim.
Add pennies, one at a time. Keep track of the number
of pennies added.
Continue until the water spills over the side.
Each team member repeats.
Take an average of the number of pennies your team
was able to put in the cup.
Draw the surface of the water after the pennies are
added.
Event 2 The Balance Beam: A
Penny for Your Thoughts!
Using the disposable pipette, place as many drops of
water on the penny as possible without spilling over
the edge.
Keep track of the number of drops.
Continue until water spills over or the water drop
collapses.
Repeat for the other team members.
Record your scores and take the average.
Describe or draw how the water appeared on the
penny before the drop collapsed.
Event 3 Backstroke: Clipping
Along!
Try placing a paper clip on the surface of water.
Use a magnifying glass to observe the surface of the
water where it comes in contact with the paper clip.
Draw a picture or describe what this looks like.
See how many paper clips you can suspend on the
water’s surface.
Repeat for each team member.
Event 4 Synchronized
Swimming
 Each member will use a 2in x 2in piece of wax paper.
Use disposable pipette to put drops of water on the
wax paper.
Count how many drops you were able to put on.
Draw a picture to show what it looks like and how the
water behaved when the drops were too close to each
other.
Summarizing Observations
What were some characteristics of water
behavior that you observed in ALL the
events?
What are you going to learn?
 The physical properties of water that help maintain life
on earth.
 How water is a very “sticky” molecule, with adhesive
and cohesive properties.
 How adhesion and cohesion aid in capillary action.
An Explanation of Properties of
Water
 Water has partial positive and negative charge.
 This causes water to be attracted to itself and to other
things.
 The bond between the molecules is called a hydrogen
bond.
What is the difference
between a hydrogen
bond and a chemical
bond?
Hydrogen bonds – Surface
Tension
Surface Tension is a physical property of liquids that
measures the inward pull.
Water has a HIGH surface
tension in comparison to
other liquids.
Hydrogen Bonds - Cohesion
Cohesion: attraction between molecules of the
same substance
1. Water is attracted to
itself.
2. It is considered to be very
cohesive.
3. This is why water bead
form on surfaces.
Hydrogen Bonds - Adhesion
Adhesion: is the attraction between molecules of
different substances.
The attraction of the
water to the glass is
stronger than the
attraction of the
water molecules to
each other.
Mystery Question Answered
Using the words cohesion and adhesion to describe
how water “walked’’ the line.
What Does Water do for
Living Things?
Capillary Action -is the ability of a water to flow in
narrow spaces without any assistance in opposition to
gravity.
Because water is very
cohesive and adhesive,
it can flow upward against
gravity.
What Does Water do for
Living Things?
Solvent: The substance that dissolves another substance
1. Water is know as the universal solvent, it has the
ability to dissolve a lot of substances.
2. This allows water to carry nutrients to cells, and carry
waste away from them. (blood)
What Does Water do for
Living Things?
Density: The amount of mass in a given volume.
Water is less dense as a solid than a liquid. Ice floats,
which helps keep the heat from leaving the water below.
Heat Capacity: The amount of energy it takes to raise a
substance 1 degree Celsius.
Water has a high heat capacity, which means it takes a
lot of energy to raise it.
What Does Water do for
Living Things?
High Heat Capacity
Because of waters ability to hold
in a lot of heat. Warm-blooded
animal have a lot of water to
help hold in heat to be able to
maintain proper bodily
functions.
Hydro = water
Hydrophilic: A word to describe substances that water
mixes with. (water loving)
Ex. Salt water 
Hydrophobic: A word to describe substances that do
NOT mix with water. (water fearing)
Ex. Oil(lipid) and water 
An Elaboration on Properties of
Water- Living Things
Physical Property
How it helps living things
Adhesion
Cohesion
Capillary Action
Surface Tension
Allow some insects to stay above
water
Density – Solid H2O less dense
than liquid H2O
Lakes and Rivers do not freeze
completely through in the winter.
Keeps the heat in the water.
High Specific Heat - requires a lot
of energy to change temperature
Hold in heat to maintain body
temperature.
Universal Solvent
Dissolves a lot of molecules
LAB: Water Questions
Name________________________
Class_________ Date___________
1.
List 6 physical properties of water.
2.
How do the physical properties of cohesion and adhesion help plants
survive.
3.
Why do warm blooded mammals have a high percentage of water in their
bodies?
4.
What is the difference between hydrophilic and hydrophobic?
1.
Explain the advantage to living things of ice being less dense than water?
2.
Sketch a water molecule and label the hydrogen and chemical bonds. Which
one is stronger?