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water

Water is essential to life itself, with out water life on earth would not exist. Water is a major component of cells, typically forming between 70 and 95% of the mass of the cell. This means that we are made from approximately 80% water by mass and some soft bodied creatures such as jellyfish are made of up to 96% water. Water also provides an environment for organisms to live in, 75% of the earth is covered in water.
Water itself is a simple molecule made up of 2 hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom, H20. The hydrogen and oxygen atoms are bonded covalently as shown in the diagram of water's electron structure. Water is not a linear molecule, the two hydrogen atoms form a bond with the oxygen at the angle of 104.5o.

Diagram of water's electron structure
Covalent bonds are formed by sharing electrons in the outer orbits of the quantum shells. In the case of water however the large number of protons in the oxygen nucleus have a stronger attraction for these shared electrons than the c...

Posted by: Margaret Rowden

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