Light, Pressure, and Wind Quiz 

Water

Water has many amazing properties that allow life on this earth possible. If water did not have the structure it does we would not exist!

Polar molecule- A molecule having a positive end and a negative end

     -Water is a polar molecule giving it many important features

    -The most important feature of water is that it is less dense in its solid form than its liquid form

 -When water molecules stick to other water molecules it is called a hydrogen bond.

Hydrogen Bond - When the positive ends of hydrogen stick to the negative end of oxygen. Hydrogen bonds are very weak.

Cohesion - Water sticking to water because of the hydrogen bonds

          -Cohesion causes surface tension which is the waters surface resisting being broken

  -Adhesion - water sticking to other molecules other than water  

  -Three states of matter

    -Solid

    -Liquid

    -Gas

-Ice floats because water is more dense than ice

    -Ice is 10% less dense than water so only 10% of ice breaches the water

    -Since ice floats it is the surface of the ocean that freezes. The sheet of frozen ocean that forms insulates the water underneath which allows organisms to continue thriving under the ice without freezing.

Clouds have mass. They have a weight. That is why they can only float so high. The denser the cloud the lower it will float

 High specific heat

     -Because the water molecules are attracted to each other in a hydrogen bond it takes a lot of energy to break them apart. The hydrogen bonds need to be broken in order for water to change state...ice-water-steam

     -This is referred to as high specific heat

      -Water's high specific heat is important for many reasons. Many marine organisms need to maintain a consistent body temperature. Since it takes a large amount of energy to change the temperature of water the ocean's temperature changes subtly.    

Rain Shadows

The water from the ocean evaporates and rises to form clouds. The clouds blow inland. Once they reach a mountain that is too tall to pass they rain. The water travels down the mountain and works its way back to the ocean. The wind continues past the mountains but since the clouds did not make it over it is a dry wind. On the other side of coastal mountains is usually a desert because the air at that point is dry. This is called a rain shadow.