Water and Hydrogen Bonding
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Water is the solvent of life on Earth. It has
several properties that contribute to its
suitability to support life as we know it. One
property derived from the special
properties of oxygen is that water is a polar
molecule. Oxygen is electronegative and
draws the electrons that it shares in the
covalent bond with hydrogen towards itself.
In pure water, the partially negative oxygen
of one molecule attracts the partially
positive hydrogens from another water
molecules to form a non-covalent bonding
interaction called a hydrogen bond.
Hydrogen Bonding
(definition) The attraction of an
electronegative atom for a hydrogen that is
covalently bonded to another
electronegative atom. This involves the
attraction of a hydrogen with a partial
positive charge to an atom with a partial
negative charge. However, only hydrogens
covalently bonded
to an
electronegative
atom can participate
in hydrogen
bonding.
Details of a Water Molecule
A water molecule attracts four other water
molecules towards it: one each to the two
free pairs of electrons in the valence shell,
and one each to the hydrogens covalently
bonded to the oxygen. As the water
molecules associate with each other they
have a defined structure dictated by the
tetrahydral geometry of the electrons
around the oxygen atom
The partially positive hydrogens associate
with the free electron pairs from other
water molecules, while the partially
negative charge on the oxygen's free
electron pairs associate with the partially
positive hydrogens from another water
molecule.
The polar character of water that results in
its ability to form extensive hydrogen
bonding networks give rise to several
properties of water that are important to
sustaining life.
1. High surface tension – Allows water
to enter small structures (capillary
action), allowing more water to be
transported in plants.
2. Ice is less dense than water – If ice
was denser than water, lakes would
 freeze from the bottom up, never
completing thawing in the summer.
3. High heat of vaporization – A large
amount of heat is required to
convert liquid water to a gas. Allows
an organism to cool via evaporation
of sweat. It also keeps an organism
from evaporating when being run of
fever or is in a hot climate.
4. High specific heat capacity – A
large amount of heat is required to
raise the temperature of 1 gram of
water 1°C. Means that heat
produced by biochemical reactions
doesn’t raise the temperature of the
organism.
5. A high dielectric constant – A
measure of polarity of the polar
covalent bond. Due to high dielectric
constant, water acts as a good
solvent therefore it is also called a
universal solvent. The high
dielectric constant reduces ionic
attraction, allowing salts to dissolve.