Water is an integral part of our life. Two thirds of the entire Earth’s surface is occupied by seas and oceans. Everything that surrounds us could not exist without the H 2 O molecule. Even a person consists of 70% of this substance. The biological role of water is very large. You will see this if you read this article to the end.
Look out the window. What do you see? People, animals, plants, houses, cars. All this consists of water, however, its percentage is different everywhere. Why go far? What do you think, in tooth enamel and bones are those very amazing H 2 O molecules? Of course, only their percentage is very small. In our technological time, people cannot do without water.
Water molecule
This article will discuss the properties of water and its biological role. We have already said that the functions of this substance are very numerous and diverse. Let's talk a little about how the molecule is structured, then it will become clear why this compound is so multifunctional and universal. Let's start with the composition. The water molecule contains 3 atoms: 2 - hydrogen and 1 - oxygen. The shape resembles an isosceles triangle. Such a substance is a dipole, since it has a polarity. Water is an amazing mix, as it can be in three states:
The biological role of water is very large. Now we will go on to consider the functions of a miracle molecule.
Solvent
The biological role of water is that it can dissolve various substances well. But this is one of the functions. Since almost any substance can dissolve in water, it is almost impossible to find this liquid in its pure form, it can only be obtained in laboratory conditions. Any solvent can take only a certain amount of the substance. Thus, saturated aqueous solutions exist, that is, when the solvent can no longer accept and dissolve other substances. But if you heat the water, then its ability as a solvent increases greatly. Conduct an experiment: Dissolve the same amount of sugar or salt in hot and cold water. Of course, in hot, dissolution will occur much faster and no precipitate will remain.
Thermoregulation
The biological role of water also lies in the ability to maintain a constant body temperature. That is, in the cold and in a warm room, the temperature of our body (provided that the person is healthy) will remain unchanged - 36.6 degrees. This can be explained by the fact that water is able to collect heat and cool very slowly.
Now a little about what heat transfer is. This is the exchange of heat between the body and the environment. The main factor is the body temperature of a living creature, which depends on metabolic processes and heat transfer. There are two kinds of living things on our planet:
- poikilothermic;
- homoyothermal.
We belong to the second group, that is, we are warm-blooded. Our temperature does not change with changing ambient temperature.
Cell resilience
Now about the biological role of water in the cell. As mentioned earlier, water is a solvent, participates in the process of thermoregulation. In addition to the foregoing, it is the basis for the organelles of the cell and maintains its regular shape. This can be explained as follows: it is very difficult to squeeze water even in laboratory conditions, it helps to maintain cell elasticity. If you do not believe the words, then do an experiment: try squeezing the water. Agree, this is quite difficult.
Transport function
Another feature of water is its ability to deliver the necessary substances. Now we will focus on the transport function. The ability to deliver the necessary substances occurs due to the high surface tension of the liquid. So, water can penetrate into the capillaries, the intercellular space. That is, it carries nutrition to the cells and removes unnecessary substances. Water has a wide variety of properties, it is they who need to be thankful for performing all vital functions.
Environmental role
We examined the biological role of water, but it is important to understand that its ecological role is no less important. There are 2 aspects that can be distinguished:
- external environmental factor;
- internal environmental factor.
External factors include a number of features, such as climate, microclimate, habitat, and so on. Internal affect primarily the cells of living organisms. Thus, a number of features and processes in which water is involved can be distinguished. Many of these functions are vital to humans.