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ASSIGNMENT NO. e.g. 1 or 2: ___1______ DUE DATE: ____17 MARCH 2025_____

ASSIGNMENT TITLE: DISCUSS THE GENERAL PROPERTIES OF WATER THAT MAKE IT A UNIQUE
AND ESSENTIAL COMPOUND IN OUR NATURAL WORLD______

MARKER’S COMMENTS: ____A well balance presentation that addreses the key requirements of
question__________________________________________________

______________________________________________________________________________

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MARKER’S SIGNATURE:_______________________________ DATE: _08/04/25__________

Before going deeper into this discussion there are some key words of interest in the topic
question that need to be defined.The words are water, unique, essential and compound.

Introduction [3]

As defined in the American Heritage Dictionary (2020) ,"Water is a clear colourless, odorless
and tasteless liquid substance that is essential for human survival and is composed of hydrogen
and oxygen anaturaltoms (H2O).

When defining the word unique, Merriam Webster (2020), says,"Unique referes to something
that is one-of-a-kind , unparalleled,or unmatched, having no equal or equivalent; distinctive,
special or exceptional.

In Oxford University Press (2020) , the word 'esssential', is referred to as"something that is
absolutely necessary or indispensable; fundamental or vital to the existence, function , or
wellbeing of something or someone."

According to the American chemical society, (2020),"A compound is a substance formed when
two or more different elements are chemically bonded together in fixed ratio, resulting in a
new substance with properties different from those of the individual elements.

The Oxford University Press,(2020), defines 'the natural world 'as ".....the physical universe
including the earth,it's ecosystems and all living organisms,as well as the processes and
phenomena that occur within it excluding human-made or artificial constructs."

Generalizing these definitions the main thrust of our discussion will be looking into the
components of water as a compound, its uniqueness in terms of it's chemical and physical
properties that make it vital for life on earth.

Key tefrms defined [4]

When we think of water we normally perceive it in it's liquid state , however water exits
naturally in three states.We have water as liquid,we have water as solid (ice) and we also have
water as gas.What makes up water and give gives it these unique properties to achieve these
three states and still maintain it's composition.That will be looked into as the discussion
progresses.
Still on the surface water is tasteless, colourless and odorless.However when observed in huge
quantities water is perceived to be light blue.This colour is gained by the fact that water absorb
some hues and scatters the rest from sunlight.The general transparency of water makes it
possible for marine plants to get sunlight which they need for photosynthesis.Marine plants
form the foundation for marine ecosystem.

Water is a compound,it is made up of a bond of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom
covalently bonded together.The chemical formula for water is(H20). The make up of an oxygen
atom with 8 positively charged protons attracts electrons much stronger than hydrogen when
they are in bond because hydrogen have only one positively charged protons.This chemical
structure geves the oxygen side of the water molecule a more negative charge.A water
molecule is this a polar molecule.This unique property of water makes it a universal solvent.

Being a universal solvent, water dissolves many substances.Substances that dissolve in water
are solutes.A polar solvent like water is best on dissolving polar solutes.Most organic
compounds and other important biochemicals are polar, thus they dissolve well in water.This
helps to facilitate many biological processes which are vital for life.

Another unique property of water is its surface tension.In their journal,'The Unique And
Unusual Properties Of Water.'Charles Riley,Jr.M lolPE(2020) says "surface tension is the
attractive force exerted by molecules below the surface on those at the liquid air
interface."Surface tension is the ability of water molecules to bond tightly together.Such quality
gives water the advantage to adhere to wet surfaces of hydrophilic substances, on the other
hand water repels or does not adhere to hydrophobic substances or surfaces. (An example of
hydrophobic substance is oil.) This vital property of water aids to it's capillary action.Capillary
action is the ability of water to move upwards defying gravity when it is directed through a
narrow channel.This process makes it possible for water to transport nutrients and moisture for
plants from the soil to the leaves.I also facilitates the movement of blood through vessels in
animals, water is the major component of blood.

The specific heat capacity of water is its other property that makes it a unique and essential
compound in our natural world. To the specific heat capacity of water is very high.It takes lots
of energy input to change the temperature of water slightly.This property of water makes it a
good temperature conditioner on our globe.I moderates the climate and balance heat transfer
as of land and oceans.The high specific heat capacity of water makes it a good body cooler for
people. In their journal, Unique properties of water on (https://eu.doc workspace) they stress
that,"since it takes large amounts of energy to change the state of water, sweating is very
effective method of cooling the body. In order to eveporate the sweat requires the input of
great deal of energy some of which comes from our bodies, so as sweat eveporates we begin to
feel cooler."This phenomena is a practical witness to show us the extent at which we depend
on water for our existence.

Water density is the other unique property of water.Water change its state from solid to liquid
at zero degrees Celsius.When water is liquid it has high density.On the other hand as water
freezes the alignment of hydrogen and oxygen atoms are in crystal formas a result water is less
dense when solid .This unique property of water makes solid water float on liquid water an
action that shields marine life from freezing in polar regions.Ice act as a shield keeping
temperatures beneath it habitable to marine life like fish.

On the opposite extreme water have a high boiling point of 100 degrees Celsius.Hydrogen
bonds in liquid water are very strong, allowing water to remain liquid at high temperatures.This
is only unique to water because other liquid compounds of the same chemical composition as
water freezes at much lower temperature.It requires a lot of heat energy to change water from
liquid to gas . This is the reason why a high percentage of water on earth is liquid ,a good
advantage for most living organisms that rely on liquid water for survival.

Carson,R(1962) says,"Water is the driving force of all nature; without it nothing can function."
Water molecules are involved in many chemical reactions required to sustain life.Most cells are
sorounded by water and nearly all biological processes are facilitated by water.It also facilitates
the two fundamental processes required to sustain life which are photosynthesis and cellular
respiration.In photosynthesis cells use the energy from sunlight to convert water and carbon
dioxide into glucose and oxygen.This energy is converted to usable energy when glucose is
broke down in the presence of oxygen.

A well discussed essay. Key issues are raised. However, there is need to use the spelling and
grammar app to improve on punctuation. Body 70 Marks

To sum up this discussion it can be said water is life. This is because the unique properties of
water,it's ability to change state, its abundance in liquid state, its chemical composition and
atomic structure makes it an essential compound in our natural world.Water is colourless and
odorless, water is a polar molecule and water has high surface tension enabling its capillary
Water is also a universal solvent. Water has a high specific heat capacity.Water density is
unique allowing it to lose density when in solid state .In general it's unique properties are the
right ones requiredto sustain life on earth.

Conclusion [3]

Referencing in text [2]

References [2]
REFERENCES

American Chemical Society.(2020). Compound In ACS Chemistry Glossary.

American Heritage Dictionary.(2020). Water.In American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
(5th ed). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.

Carson,R (1962). Silent Spring.Houghton Mifflin.

Merriam -Webster (2020). Unique.In Merriam -Webster 's Dictionary (11th ed)

Oxford University Press.(2020). Essential.In Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed)

Oxford University Press.(2020). Natural World. In Oxford English Dictionary (3rd ed)

"Unique properties of water".(n.d). Retrieved from (https://eu. doc work space.com.