Could Life be methane Based?

Saturn's moon Titan: "A unique world in the solar system" for life?

Saturn’s largest moon Titan has water frozen as hard as

granite and great lakes-of methane fed by a complete
liquid vapour cycle, much like the water cycle on Earth.

This liquid-gas cycle is made up of methane rather than

water. Methane has a small molecule like water but it
melts at -182°C and boils at -169°C, very different from
water which boils at temperatures 270°C warmer. Why
are the thermal properties of these two small molecules
1 Artists impression of Titan's surface, so different?
Source: www.dailygalaxy.com
The presence of methane on Titan is interesting for
another reason. Methane is common on Earth in places which have living organisms. Could there be
life on this cold moon orbiting Saturn?

Questions to answer
1. What state is methane, solid liquid or gas, in In Titan’s atmosphere it rains liquid methane
the earth's atmosphere? at minus 180°C. At this temperature water
would be a hard and brittle solid.
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2. Why is it that methane can evaporate at -180°C

on Titan whereas water is frozen solid at this
temperature?

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…………………………………………………………………. Property Methane Water

Melting -182 0
3. What is the "special force" which is found point / °C
between water molecules that is not found in
methane? Boiling point -161 100
/ °C
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Specific heat 36 4200
4. What effect does this force have on the melting
capacity /
point and boiling point of water?
J°C-1mol-1
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Cohesion low high
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© David Faure, InThinking http://www.thinkib.net/biology 1

5. Suggest how this “special force” might change the cohesion of water molecules compared to
methane molecules? (Cohesion is the ability of like molecules to stick together)

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6. Sweating cools the skin because when the water in sweat evaporates it carries heat away from
the skin. If humans made sweat with methane instead of water how would it change
the effectiveness of sweating to cool the skin?

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7. If extra-terrestrial life on Titan does exist, and if it uses methane in sweat to cool down, explain
why Titan's organisms would be happier to be sweating with methane and not water.

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8. Another difference between Titans lakes and the oceans of the earth will be the substances
dissolved in each. Water is a polar molecule and an excellent solvent of ionic substances like
salts and other polar molecules like amino acids and sugars. Methane is non-polar and thus will
dissolve lipids and small molecules better.

Suggest why cytoplasm or blood made with water would be better for living things than
cytoplasm or blood made from methane.

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