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The Biological Importance of Water
The Biological Importance of Water
The Biological Importance of Water
Water is a dipolar molecule:
A water molecule consists of two hydrogen atoms and an oxygen atom; however, the electrons in the
covalent bonding are not shared equally. The oxygen atom has a greater electronegativity, meaning
that it has a greater pull on the electrons. Due to this each water molecule has slightly negative and
slightly positive regions.
Ice floats on water:
Water is at its most dense at 4oC. When water freezes the hydrogen bonds between the molecules
forms a rigid lattice, that holds the molecules further apart then in liquid water. Ice, having expanded
when freezing, is less dense than its liquid counterpart and so floats on water.
Water is adhesive and cohesive:
Water is ‘wet’ because it sticks to things. This is because its molecules can form hydrogen bonds with
other polar substances. This is called adhesion. The attraction between molecules of similar
substances is called cohesion. In this way water molecules stick together which allows water to enter
and move along very narrow spaces, in a process called capillarity.
Important thermal properties:
Water has a high specific heat capacity meaning that it needs to gain a lot of energy to raise its
temperature. Conversely it also needs to lose a lot of energy to lower its temperature. Water’s specific
heat capacity is 4.2 kJ/g/oC
Water has a high latent heat of vaporisation which means a lot of energy is required to evaporate
it. When it evaporates, water draws thermal energy out of the surface it’s on, which can be observed
in sweating.
Water also has a high latent heat of fusion meaning that at 0oC water must lose a lot of thermal
energy before it freezes, thus liquid water can reach temperatures of down to -10 oC before it forms
ice.
Other physical properties of water:
It is transparent to sunlight.
See if you can think of ways that these properties are important to life.
An important part of A Level Biology is being able to write a clear and concise essay on the topics you
have covered, particularly as many exam boards set an essay question in each of their papers. Below
is an example essay on the importance of water.
Water has several unique properties that make it vital not only for human beings, but for all living
organisms to survive. The most noticeable of its physical properties is that it is a liquid at room
temperature, which is unusual for compounds with molecules of a similar atomic composition. This
is due to the hydrogen bonds that form between each water molecule, and up to four others. Water
being a liquid at room temperature provides a marine environment for organisms to live in, and also
provides a liquid environment inside cells, which holds significant importance as metabolic reactions
that are key to life take place in solution.
Water molecules are dipolar, meaning they have a positively charged and a negatively charged
region. The charges of these areas attract polar and ionic substances that are dissolved in it, and the
water molecules form a layer around each charged ion, keeping the substance in solution. Water is
known as the ‘universal solvent’, this is because it dissolves much more substances than most
common solvents. This is of vital significance as all of the metabolic reactions essential for life take
place in solution in the cytoplasm of living cells.
Another property caused by water molecules being dipolar is that water is adhesive, and this
adhesion makes water stick to other polar substances, effectively making it ‘wet’. This allows water to
move upwards through the very narrow xylem of tall plants, such as trees, against gravity.
Continuous columns of water can also be pulled up to the top of trees due to its high tensile strength,
meaning that water columns do not break easily. Also important to plants is water’s transparency.
Water, being transparent and colourless transmits sunlight, enabling aquatic plants to
photosynthesis, and also enabling us to see, as our eyes are coated in water.
There are also many thermal properties that make water so essential for life, for example its very
high specific heat capacity, 4.2kJ/g/oC . This means that a lot of energy needs to be gained, or lost, in
order to change the temperature of water, and so the environment inside organisms resists
temperature changes that could cause it damage. Water also has a high latent heat of vaporisation
which means mean that water needs a lot of energy to evaporate, and so draws this thermal energy
from the surface it is on, cooling it as the water evaporates from it (this can be observed when we
sweat to cool ourselves). Water’s high latent heat of fusion prevents the liquid environment of cells
from freezing, and tearing the cells apart, as liquid water temperatures can drop to around -10 oC
before it begins to freeze.