Water, the Crucial Molecule of Life - Water is essential to life. Because of its polar structure, water has several important properties: it is a universal solvent and a temperature stabilizer, it can dissociate ionic compounds, and it has great tensile strength and cohesiveness.
The hydrogen bonding that occurs in water has profound biological consequences. Some astronomers refer to our planet as ''the water planet," for in many ways the existence of water makes earth unique in our solar system. In some ways, all living things on earth are "water beings," because about 50 to 90 percent of the bodies of living things consists of water. What is more, it is the special structure of water, with its polarity and its ability to form weak hydrogen bonds between one water molecule and another, that made it possible for life to arise. Because of hydrogen bonding, water is, among other things, a universal solvent and a remarkable temperature stabilizer, and it has great cohesiveness and tensile strength. (Source: Avila, Vernon L. Biology : Investigating Life On Earth Jones and Bartlett/Bookmark Series in Biology Page 46)
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