the importance of water in plant growth

the importance of water in plant growth Water is a vital component to the survival of every plant in the world as it is aids in the way that they obtain their food (through the process of photosynthesis), grow (cell division, mitosis), respire (cellular respiration) and how they keep their formation (rigidity). Water helps plants maintain their formation by transporting dissolved nutrients, amino acids and sugars from the soil to areas where it is of high demand. It flows through cell membranes from an area of high concentration to an area of low concentration (osmosis) (A Sanders, 2010). Water allows plants to survive by being one of the vital reactants in the chemical reaction of photosynthesis. Every molecule of water contains two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom which are tightly held together by covalent bonds. This molecule contains 10 protons, 10 electrons and 8 neutrons (refer to fig 6) (Answers Cooperation, 2010). Water has a boiling point of 100Â °C and a freezing point of 0Â °C. In our world water is found in three different states; ice, liquid and as steam or water vapour. Due to cohesive forces, the molecules of water are strongly attracted to each other and therefore the surface tension (the charge of the water molecules attract eachother to form a skin across the surface of the water) that is created is vital to the survival of many animals (e.g. pond skater). Water molecules have dipoles due to the electrons being shared from both hydrogen atoms to the oxygen atom (refer to fig 6). This means that the electrons spend more time near the oxygen atom then near the hydrogen atoms resulting in a slight negative charge on the side of the molecule which contains t he oxygen atom and a slight positive charge on the side of the molecule which contains both hydrogen atoms (A Capri, 2010) (Chemistry, MJones, GJones, DAcaster). Fig 6: Basic Water Molecule. Fig 7: Root Structure of a Plant. The main area of plants which absorb water from their surrounding environment is the root hair zone. Inside the zone, are the roots hairs of the plants which are found growing parallel to the roots. The root hairs (refer to fig 7) of the plants have fragile like characteristics so they are replaced every day at an average rate of 100 million. The root hairs are slender and are present in hefty sizes so they are able to cover enormous amount of surface area therefore absorbing maximum water (containing nutrients, amino acids and sugars from the soil. From the roots hairs, the water (and what contained in the water) travel through the tissues found within the roots, stems and leaves of plants called xylem and phloem. (B Dery, 2009) (TutorVista.com, 2010) (R Bailey, 2010). Fig8: Xylem and Phloem Structures. The transport system of vascular plants is made up of the xylem tissue and the phloem tissue, two different tissues which run through the roots, stem and leaves of plants (refer to fig 8) (Andrew Rader Studios, 2010) (SlideShare Inc, 2008). These two tissues are shaped like tubes and due to this characteristic, are easily able to transport water from the soil to the areas of the plants where it is needed most. There are three main differences between the two tissues with the first one being that the tubes of xylem transport water and dissolved nutrients throughout the plant whilst the tubes of the phloem transports amino acids and sugars (N Neezal, 2010). Secondly the cells within the xylem tubes are dead whilst the cells within the phloem tubes are living and thirdly the xylem tissue only allows a one-way flow whilst the phloem tissue allows a two-way flow (refer to fig 10). Fig 10: Characteristics of Xylem and Phloem Vessels. The xylem tubes are long and thick and are made of vessels and tracheids (Harun Yahya International, 2004). The tubes are attached from end to end allowing the water to reach maximum speed throughout its journey of the plant (Andrew Rader Studios, 2010). The phloem tubes are made up of sieve and companion cells which run parallel to each other. They are long and thin also joined from end to end. Located on the end walls of the tubes are large pores which allow amino acids and sugars to enter and flow out of the tubes throughout the plant to areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration (Tiscali UK Limited, No Date). Fig 9: The Transpiration Process of Plants. From the xylem and phloem tissues, water, dissolved nutrients, amino acids and sugars are transported up through the plant due to a process called transpiration. Transpiration (refer to fig 9) is the evaporation of water generally from the leaves of plants (Refer to reference 12, 13). The process of transpiration allows all the dissolved nutrients contained in the water molecules to move from the roots to the leaves, allowing them to be rehydrated due to the water loss experienced from transpiration. The process of transpiration is a continuous cycle allowing the leaves of plants to transpire yet still allowing them to rehydrate from the nutrients, amino acids and sugar contained in the water molecules. Fig 12: Evenly Transferred Molecular Motion of Kettles/Stoves. Water is water; fresh, boiled, heated, cooled, frozen, its all the same or so it is thought. The way in which water is heated and/or boiled by common household appliances for example a kettle or a microwave, may change the function and the way of which water molecules are designed to work. By boiling water in a kettle (or on a stove), water is heated evenly (refer to fig 12) due to the continuous cycle that occurs in this particular way of heating. The warmer water molecules rise and the cooler water molecules descend until they are warm therefore resulting in evenly heated water. The process of how water heats up in a microwave is completely different to how it heats up in a kettle. In a microwave, random parts of the water are chosen from the various angles within the microwave, therefore heating up minimal surface area compared to a kettle which heats up the complete area (refer to fig 11). This is the reason why sometimes when heating food up in a microwave some areas are hot whilst others are cold (Wimpy, 2010). Fig 11: Random Microwave Waves. The aim of this extended experimental investigation is to investigate what effect, if there is an effect, water that has been heated up in a microwave has on Petunia x hybrida and Tagetes patula plants. What effect will water heated up in a microwave have on the growth and development of Petunia x hybrida and Tagetes patula plants? It was hypothesized that water that is heated up in a microwave will somehow (due to the components of the microwave) be unable to pick up essential nutrients such as amino acids and sugar from the soil. By the hypothesis stated, it is evident to see that the reason for investigating and performing this experiment is to discover whether or not plants are still able to grow and develop to their full potential using water that has been heated up in a microwave.

Huck Finn :: essays research papers

Pg. 2 â€Å"After supper she got out her book and learned me about Moses and the Bulrushers, and I was in a sweat to find out all abut him; but by and by she let it out that Moses had been dead a considerable long time; so then I didn’t care no more abut him, because I don’t take no stock in dead people.†   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In the beginning of the book, when Huck is first taken into Widow Douglas’ house, she tries to get him to be more civilized. She reads to him from the Bible, teaches him how to read and behave, and even forces him to wear shoes. This quote was [I’m guessing] Huck’s first encounter with religion, because obviously his father wouldn’t have taken him to church. Huck is first intrigued by the adventures people experienced, but is quickly bored when he finds out that they all died a while ago.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  In this passage, Mark Twain uses Huck to show his objection to the blind faith that civilized society places towards religion. I’m guessing Mark Twain wasn’t a very religious man. This whole book is on the different downfalls of society, and I guess Mark Twain considers religion to be one of those. I do agree with him on this count. Although I’m Christian, I do agree with the various slight comments he makes throughout the book to show how people fell it’s ok to do whatever as long as they can justify it by the bible or something. Pg. 12 â€Å"per'aps if we keep them till they're ransomed, it means that we keep them till they're dead.† When Huck Finn sneaks out to go play with Tom Sawyer and all their other friends, they decide to form a gang of robbers. They decide to hold people ransom, except they don’t really know what ransom is, so Tom just comes up with a meaning to the word that he thinks sounds about right. All of the boys in the gang agree. I think this quote fits in with the theme of the book â€Å"satire of society.† While the meaning of the word ransom may not be a crucial topic, the concept that I think Mark Twain is trying to illustrate is that if one person says something everyone will follow. The boys have no way of knowing what the real meaning of ransom is, so they just blindly go along with whatever Tom suggests, and that is one of the biggest downfalls of society, even today.

Lynda Smith “Disconnected” Rhetorical Summary Essay

In her essay, â€Å"Disconnected†, Lynda Smith apprehends that today’s technological forward movements are taking over our basic human interactions. She explains that we are being brainwashed into believing that cell phone, computers and other technological gadgets help us to stay connected smoothly and instantaneously. Although the reality is by using these gadgets we are not experiencing face to face communications, instead we are separating from each other. Lynda Smith tries to connect with readers emotions by pointing out misleading cell phone carrier commercials and slogans. Smith also uses further facts to support her claims, that these companies have lied to us and succeeded by providing false information by repetition. Which causal has the customer believe these companies are trustworthy and customer friendly. Even more she uses CIA’s data base information to show the number of cell phone and internet users to conclude her theory on commercials influencing our choices to purchase these services. Furthermore, Smith connects with people who have been affected by advertising and cell phone carries enormous number of cell phone users. Smith’s example portrays a men who was lead to believe, he would save time by owning a cell phone, while the truth is there is no saving time. Big corporations are just out to warp our sense of time so that we really end up with less, while still buying their products, and jumping on the bandwagon. Smith ends her arguments by stating we all have individual choice to decide how we communicate with our close once. Will it be by fast forwarding technology, or face to face interaction, either way we need to keep updated with technology in order progress forwards but we can not depend on it.

The Syrian Government Of Syria - 1652 Words

The Syrian government is facing large opposition in its civil war; however, no single group seems able to truly contest the government, especially with the Russian government openly and actively supporting the al-Assad regime. The main pressure on the government of Syria is coming from native Syrians due to the events of the Arab Spring. The Assad regime held an authoritarian position over its people. Many Syrians protested this authoritarian government, and the Assad regime responded with violent force. This has caused a large split within the nation and has created many rebel groups intent upon overthrowing the Assad regime and establishing a democracy in Syria. The main belligerents against the Assad regime include the Free Syrian Army,†¦show more content†¦The group has been weakened due to the desertions as a result of low pay, poor conditions, and the fragmentation of the group (Lucente). Because of the decrease in force of the FSA and the support the Syrian government has from Russia, the remaining belligerents such as ISIS and the Syrian National Council will have a harder time as the government now has fewer sides to fight on. ISIS does present a fair amount of threat in the long term against the Syrian government because they control over a third of the territory in Syria. Furthermore, they control most of its oil and gas production. This allows ISIS to maintain their grip on their territory much easier even with the combined force of Russia and Syria against them. However this does not present as much of a threat as would seem given the amount of oil and gas that the Syrian government has lost with the territory simply because of the Russian involvement. The support that the Assad regime has from Russia will continuously make it incredibly hard for ISIS and other rebel groups to make a significant enough dent in the Syrian military to overthrow the government. Another significant problem facing the Syrian government and many surrounding states includes the refugee crisis that comes as a result of the fighting in the civil war. It has been estimated that more than four million Syrians have fled the country since the start of the conflict. Over seven million have been internally displaced within the country,