Aaran Shah

How do the proper es of water make it essen al to life?

The water molecule consists of one atom of oxygen bonded to two atoms of hydrogen, by
shared electrons. Since the oxygen atom has a larger posi ve nuclear charge, the shared
electrons in the covalent bonds are pulled closer to the oxygen atom than the hydrogen
atoms. This results in the oxygen atom having a slight nega ve charge, and the hydrogen
atoms having a slight posi ve charge. Because the water molecule has both a nega ve and
posi ve pole, it can be described as dipolar. As opposite poles a ract, the slightly posi ve
oxygen atoms a ract the slightly nega ve hydrogen atoms of other water molecule. This
a rac on between the water molecules is called hydrogen bonding. Water has a high latent
heat of vaporisa on, as it takes lots of energy to break the hydrogen bonds between the
water molecules. This means that it requires a large amount of energy to evaporate 1g of
water.
The high latent heat of vaporisa on of water is vital to life for numerous reasons. Firstly, it
means that, at earth like temperatures and pressures, water is a liquid, not a gas. Secondly,
the fact that water must absorb lots of energy before it evaporates means mammals can use
water loss as a way to quickly cool down and regulate their temperature, without losing too
much water. This is evident when humans sweat, as the sweat absorbs lots of thermal
energy from our bodies before it evaporates o our skin, taking our thermal energy with it,
thereby cooling us down. This process of thermoregula on is essen al to life, as if mammals
overheat, the enzymes which control most chemical reac ons in the body, which are needed
for life begin to lose shape of their ac ve site and can no longer work as e ec vely as
before. There countless other consequences to overhea ng in mammals, and this means,
without an e ec ve method to keep cool, such as swea ng, many organisms would die.
Hydrogen bonds between the water molecules are able to absorb lots of energy (heat).
Because of this, it takes lots of energy to heat water up, and it therefore has a high speci c
heat capacity (the amount of energy needed to raise 1g of water by 1°C). The high speci c
heat capacity means water takes a long me to heat and cool, it can store lots of energy,
and, when the temperature of water decreases, lots of energy is released as the hydrogen
bonds once again form.
This property of water means that it doesn’t experience rapid changes in temperature,
which important for a variety of reasons. It makes the temperature of aqua c environments
extremely stable, making these environments very good habitats. This stability is necessary
to life, as if the temperature underwater did quickly change, many organisms would die, as
they wouldn’t be adapted to survive in the new condi ons. To a lesser extent, large bodies
of water help to regulate the temperature on land, for example, at night, the land cools fast,
however the water will slowly cool, and release heat to the nearby land. Water is the main
cons tuent of all living organisms, and thanks to water’s high speci c heat capacity, the
temperature of this water inside organisms always remains rela vely stable, allowing them
to maintain constant internal body temperatures.
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 Aaran Shah

As previously explained, water is a dipolar molecule, and due to the hydrogen bonds that
form, water molecules are very cohesive (they tend to s ck together). This cohesion means
that when water molecules meet air, they tend to be pulled back into the body of water
rather than escaping from it, resul ng in a force known as surface tension.
Cohesion is an invaluable property of water, as it helps water to ow, making it very useful
for mass transport. For example, in the xylem of plants. In plants, water evaporates from
leaves at the top of the xylem, through the process of transpira on. Due to cohesive forces
between the water molecules, water forms an unbroken column up the xylem, crea ng a
transpira on pull. To replace the water lost by transpira on, water moves by osmosis into
root hair cells, then up the xylem. This constant movement of water through the plant is
called the transpira on stream. The method of transpor ng water up the xylem, against
gravity, without using energy is only possible thanks to the cohesive property of water, and
without it, many plants would wilt, thus hindering their ability to photosynthesise, resul ng
in them dying, meaning most other animals would die shortly a er. The surface tension of
water means that the surface of water can support small organisms, such as pond skaters,
which thrive on the surface of water.
Finally, water is a metabolite, and is involved in many reac ons, such as hydrolysis reac ons,
which uses water to break down many complex molecules, condensa on reac ons, which
releases a molecule of water when a new bond is formed, and photosynthesis, in which
water is a raw material.
There are numerous hydrolysis reac ons, like when a phosphate bond is broken, and energy
is released from ATP which is used as a vital component in the process of respira on, or
when the glyosidic bonds between alpha glucose molecules are broken down to release
energy, or, when during diges on, triglycerides are broken down into fa y acids and
glycerol. An example of a condensa on reac ons is when amino acids are joined together
forming pep de bonds and a polypep de chain which forms a protein, which are needed
make enzymes, biological catalysts that control our basal metabolic rate, and are involved in
most chemical reac ons in the body. Photosynthesis is needed to make glucose for plants,
which is essen al in storing and releasing energy in plants. Without water, this reac on
would not take place, and plants would die, swi ly followed by animals, demonstra ng that
the property of water being a metabolite is essen al for life.
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