Biological Importance Of Water Essay

The Biological Importance of Water

Water is made up of 2 basic components, these being Oxygen and Hydrogen. Water has the molecular formula H2O.

We are about two-thirds water and require water to live. Life now, could not have evolved without liquid water and would die without it. For example, droughts cause famines and floods cause death and disease still to this day. Because of its importance, water is the most studied material on Earth.

Water in human biology

Water is very important as part of the diet of all humans and other living organisms. For humans, 60% of the water we take in comes from drinks, 30% comes from food and the remaining 10% is metabolic water, a product of respiration.

The force of attraction is called a hydrogen bond. Each water molecule is hydrogen bonded to four others.

The hydrogen bonds that form between water molecules account for some of the essential properties of water.

· The attraction created by hydrogen bonds keeps water liquid over a wider range of temperature than is found for any other molecule its size.

· The energy required to break multiple hydrogen bonds causes water to have a high heat of vaporization, which, means a large amount of energy is needed to convert liquid water, where the molecules are

· Attracted through their hydrogen bonds, to water vapour, where they are not.

The 3 States of water

Water exists in 3 different states, which can be changed using the processes boiling, freezing, melting and condensing.

Probably the most important state of water is as a liquid. It is mostly found as a liquid on earth due to the earth's temperature. Water is a liquid between the temperatures 0oC - 100oC.

Blood, which contains 80% water, is vital in transporting oxygen to the tissues and carbon dioxide from the tissues as well as being the life support system for the body.

In its major functions, water acts as:

· an ideal lubricant to transport feed;

· an aid in excretion;

· a regulator of body temperature; and

· A buffering agent to regulate pH of body fluids.

Water's properties make it an important factor in the transfer of heat and the regulation of temperature in the body. Because water has a high specific heat it is ideally suited as a temperature buffering system for the body.

Animals need a continuous supply of water for maximum efficiency. Because water functions as a lubricant in the transport of feed and aids in the excretion of waste products from the body, the intake must equal the output lost through urine, feces and evaporation otherwise known as sweat.

Water also plays a key part in digestion.

Water is also essential in plants, mainly in the process photosynthesis which keeps the plant alive and healthy.

Water is the most essential of all substances, upon which all