Water is everywhere on our planet. In the air, in our bodies, in our food and in our breath. Without it life as we know it would not be possible. Water is vital for the survival of all living things, yet as a molecule it has some pretty odd behaviour. Water molecules stick to each other, forming the ‘skin’ on ponds and droplets. The solid form floats on the liquid form. At room temperature water is a liquid, when most of the molecules closely related to it are gasses.
Why does water have so many strange and wonderful properties? What is it about this rather tiny and innocuous molecule that makes it so important for life?
To answer that you have to look at the actual structure of the molecule, exploring a world far, far smaller than microbiology usually goes. The properties of water are determined by the forces that hold it together.
A stylised diagram of a water molecule. All diagrams in this post (c) me.
The above diagram shows a water molecule, H2O. Two atoms of hydrogen attached to one molecule of oxgyen sharing electrons between them to form bonds. But the red lines that I’ve used to show the bonds hide a far more complicated story. This may be a bond, but it is not a very equal one because while oxgyen is a nice reasonably sized molecule, with eight electrons surrounding each atom, hydrogen is tiny. It only has one electron! Read more
Loading ...