Can you please describe the properties of water that account for its importance to living things? Thanks!

Certainly! The properties of water that account for its importance to living things are as follows:

1. Universal solvent: Water is known as the "universal solvent" because it has the ability to dissolve a wide variety of substances. This property allows nutrients, minerals, and other essential molecules to be transported throughout an organism's body, facilitating various biological processes.

2. High heat capacity: Water has a high specific heat capacity, meaning it can absorb and store a large amount of heat energy without undergoing significant temperature changes. This property helps regulate body temperature in living organisms by absorbing excess heat and releasing it slowly.

3. Cohesion and adhesion: Water molecules exhibit strong cohesive forces, which means they stick to each other. This property allows water to flow in a continuous manner, such as in plant vascular systems, transporting water and nutrients to different parts of the organism. Adhesion is the attraction between water molecules and other substances, such as the walls of plant cells, which helps water move against gravity.

4. Surface tension: Water molecules have cohesive forces that cause them to stick together at the surface, creating surface tension. This property allows insects to walk on water and helps water move through narrow spaces, such as capillaries in plants and blood vessels in animals.

5. Good solvent for biochemical reactions: Due to its ability to dissolve a wide range of substances, water acts as a solvent for many biochemical reactions that occur within cells. It provides a medium for these reactions to take place, enabling the transport and transformation of various molecules necessary for life.

To understand these properties, one can study the unique nature of water molecules. Water consists of one oxygen atom bonded to two hydrogen atoms, forming a bent molecular shape. The oxygen atom has a slightly negative charge, while the hydrogen atoms have a slightly positive charge. This polarity results in the formation of hydrogen bonds between water molecules, which play a crucial role in determining water's properties.