Explain How the Properties of Water Make It Suited To Its Functions In the Bodies of Living Organisms .

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EXPLAIN HOW THE PROPERTIES OF WATER MAKE IT SUITED TO

(A) ITS FUNCTIONS IN THE BODIES OF LIVING ORGANISMS

        Water is useful in a variety of different ways. The first of these being its solvency.  

Because the oxygen atom in water has a greater pull on the shared electrons than the

hydrogen atoms, this gives two seperate charged areas. So substances that have an

electrostatic charge are attracted to the charges on water molecules, allowing them to

dissolve. This allows molecules like nutrients to be dissolved in water, and be actively

transported around an organism.

        The solvency of water is also useful for digestion in organisms.  Using hydrolysis

to break down disaccharides and polysaccharides into monosaccharides by adding water.

        The use of water in digestion can be attributed to another of its properties. Water

can be heated into the gaseous form of water vapour, which removes water from its

liquid state. This process of condensation helps reverse the process of hydrolysis, and

allows monosaccharides to bond into disaccharides and polysaccharides.

        Although water can be heated into water vapour, it does have a very high heat

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capacity in which it takes a large amount of energy to change its temperature.  This is

vital to all living organisms which contain water, so they are able to maintain there

optimum temperatures for longer in adverse conditions.

        The fact that water contains two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom is

essential for photosynthesis. During the light dependant stage, the hydrogen molecules

of water are seperated from the oxygen molecule. And in the light indipendant stage,

the hydrogen molecules from water, react with the carbon dioxide to form a

carbohydrate.

        Water is relatively incompressable, it is ...

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