How do the properties of water explain its vitality in living organisms?

First, let's talk about the components of water. Water molecules are made of two hydrogen and one oxygen atom bonded together covalently, like many other molecules. However, water is extremely special because the electrons that are shared in this bond are extremely attracted to the oxygen molecule, and less attracted to the hydrogen molecules on the side. As a result, they spend a lot more time hanging out around the oxygen molecule than they do around the hydrogen molecules. This doesn't seem very significant, but the electrons' behaviour is significant enough to give the oxygen side of the water molecule a slightly negative charge, and the hydrogen molecules a slightly positive charge. For this reason, water is known as a polar molecule, and can interact with other polar molecules in a way that can explain its vital properties in living organisms. There are four main areas in which a water molecule's polarity has an influence on an organisms life, and they are cohesion, adhesion, high latent heat of vaporisation, and solvent properties. These may not make much sense at the moment, but I'll break them down briefly and give examples of how they work within an organism. Because of the polarity of a water molecule, it can interact with other water molecules in a special type of bond known as hydrogen bonding. This type of bonding occurs with when hydrogen is in the presence of fluorine, oxygen, or nitrogen molecules (keep this in mind, as hydrogen bonding is an important bond in biology and will come up again). Hydrogen bonding brings us to our first property, cohesion. If you drop water on a table and drag it around, you'll find that water doesn't break apart as you drag it, but instead leaves a trail in the shape that you've been dragging it around. This is because the water molecules are subject to hydrogen bonding that causes them to stick together, and this is what we know as cohesion. This property is very important in plants, as this is important for water transport throughout; something that will be explained more in depth when we reach that part of the syllabus. The next property, adhesion, is similar to cohesion but involves cohesive water molecules 'sticking' to non water molecules. Have you ever wondered why water travels up a piece of paper or a straw? That's adhesion! It does not use hydrogen bonding, but a different kind of attraction that goes more into the chemistry side of biology. Adhesion is important again in plants, as adhesion allows water molecules to 'climb' up the plant against gravity, so that the leaves and other parts of the plants can be hydrated. High latent heat of vaporisation is my favourite, because it can be easily explained by just boiling water! The boiling point of water is around 100 degrees celsius, which is extremely high. This is because the hydrogen bonds are so strong that a lot of energy is required to break them and change water's phase from liquid to gas (known as vaporisation). This is very important in cooling us down during exercise or when it's hot, as sweat absorbs the extra heat our body has generated, and once it evaporates it takes that heat energy along and cools us down! This also allows water to absorb much of the heat generated from exothermic reactions in the body, preventing overheating. The final property of water is its solvent properties. Because polar molecules can interact with other polar molecules and dissolve them, water can exist within the blood and help transport charged molecules (such as salts) throughout the body.