... molecular mass). This means that it has a high specific heat capacity, in other words a lot of energy is needed to break the attraction so that atoms can move freely, which would increase the water temperature. This property is useful for organisms that live in oceans, rivers and lakes because they are large bodies of water, so its specific heat capacity prevents fluctuations in temperature and maintains a constant one so that metabolic reactions in cells are not upset. Another useful property that is caused by the strong attraction between hydrogen bonds is that it is an effective coolant. It has a high latent heat of vaporization (meaning a lot of heat is needed to turn it from a liquid to a gas). For example when humans sweat, heat energy from the body evaporates the water in sweat, which cools us down. Insulation is especially important for organisms that ...

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