Capillary Action: The means by which liquid moves through the porous spaces in a solid, such as soil, plant roots, and the capillary blood vessels in our bodies due to the forces of adhesion, cohesion, and surface tension. Capillary action is essential in carrying substances and nutrients from one place to another in plants and animals.
pH: A measure of the relative acidity or alkalinity of water. Water with a pH of 7 in nuetral; lower pH levels indicates increasing acidity, while pH levels higher than 7 indicate increasingly basic solutions.
Salinity: The amount of dissolved salt in a substance.
Specific Heat: The amount of heat, measured in calories, required to raise the temperature of one gram of a substance by one Celsius degree.
Photosynthesis: The process in green plants and certain other organisms by which carbohydrates are synthesized from carbon dioxide and water using light as an energy source. Most forms of photosynthesis release oxygen as a byproduct.