i) Does water have a small or large heat capacity? ii) What is the biological significance of this characteristic?

      

i) Does water have a small or large heat capacity?

ii? What is the biological significance of this characteristic?

  

Answers


Felix
Thermology tell us that the quantity of exchanged heat (Q) is equal to the mass (m) multiplied by the specific heat of a substance (c) multiplied by the variation in temperature (T): Q = m.c.?T. Furthermore, it says that heat capacity is Q/T, and therefore, m.c. Heat capacity, however, relates to a specific object, since it considers mass, whereas specific heat relates to the substance in general. Therefore, it is more correct to refer to specific heat in this case.

Water has a specific heat of 1 cal/g.°C which means that there is a 1 °C per gram change in its temperature per every addition or subtraction of 1 cal of energy. This is a very high value (for example, the specific heat of ethanol is 0.58 cal/g°C, and mercury, a metal, has a specific heat of 0.033 cal/g°C), which makes water an excellent thermal protector against temperature variations. Even if sudden external temperature changes occur, the internal biological conditions are kept stable in organisms containing enough water.
Anganifelix answered the question on May 7, 2018 at 17:53


Next: Which kind of polarity do water-soluble and fat-soluble substances demonstrate?
Previous: What are the main properties of water that make it so special for life?

View More Biology Questions and Answers | Return to Questions Index


Exams With Marking Schemes

Related Questions