Properties of Water and its Role in Living Organisms

            Water is one of the most significant substances to life. It is needed for thermal regulation and it is almost the universal solvent. Also, every reaction occurring inside an .
             organism occurs in water. There are several properties of water. Without those unique .
             properties, life wouldn't have existed on earth. Water's cohesive behavior, its ability to .
             stabilize temperature, and its expansion upon freezing, are three out of the four properties .
             that affect the functions of living organisms greatly. .
             Cohesion is the ability of molecules to bind together, often by hydrogen bonds. .
             Cohesion takes place in ice where most of the water molecules are bonded to their neighbors. The functioning of a tree is affected by cohesion. Water that are held together .
             in columns within xylem vessels by cohesion due to hydrogen bonding are pulled upward .
             from the roots. Evaporation from the leaves makes this movement, capillary action, able to happen. Water transport in plants cannot be done without adhesion. Adhesion, the ability of molecules to bind with other molecules, of water to the walls of the xylem vessels helps lessen the downward pull of gravity. Related to cohesion, water has a higher .
             surface tension than most other liquids because of the hydrogen bonding of surface .
             molecules which means that water's surface is relatively difficult to stretch or break.
             Specific heat is the amount of heat, or energy, that is required for one gram of a substance to change its temperature by one degree Celsius. The high specific heat of water is able to stabilize temperature, so it is a significant factor during hydrogen bonding. Heat is absorbed when the hydrogen bonds break, and heat is released when hydrogen bonds form. Marine life exists since water has a high specific heat. The ocean is able to absorb a great amount of heat and still maintain its normal temperature. Heat of vaporization, the quantity of heat a liquid requires one gram of it to be changed from the liquids to the gaseous state, is another property that controls temperatures on earth.