The Biological Importance of Water

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The Biological Importance of Water Water is one of or if not the most important biological molecule, its numerous unique properties are important to every living organism as it is a major component of cells typically forming between 70%-90% of their mass. It's molecules have an imbalance of charge (dipolar) and this generates hydrogen bonding between them. One of the most extraordinary physical properties of water is that it is liquid at room temperature, which is remarkable for compounds with molecules of similar atomic configuration. This property is a product of the hydrogen bonds that form between each water molecule, and up to four others. This valuable property gives marine organisms a habitat to live in, also provides a liquid environment inside cells, which holds significant importance to metabolic reactions that are key to any life taken place in solution. Water is a dipolar molecule. This is because 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. 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. Commonly water is known as a ‘universal solvent, this is apparent 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. An additional property caused by water molecules being dipolar is that water is adhesive. Water is ‘wet’ because it sticks to things. This is because its molecules can form

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