Which of the following characteristics of water is most responsible for the phenomenon we observed in this lesson? 1 point Water is a universal solvent and it flows across the cell membrane toward the higher solute concentration. Water passes through plants from roots to leafs in the living portion of the water cycle known as transpiration. The electrons in a water molecule are not evenly distributed, resulting in a partial negative charge on the oxygen end and partial positive charges on the hydrogen end. Water has a high capacity to store heat; it can absorb a lot of heat and store it. Then it can release the heat slowly over time. Because water is polar, the molecules have the ability to stick together at the surface of a body of water to form surface tension.