Life evolved in water 3.5 billion years ago and the first organisms able to live outside of water did not occur until about 500 million years ago – life on earth requires water. In this tutorial we will learn about the structure of water and how this structure relates to the characteristics of water that make it essential to life as we know it.
Life is also composed of a diversity of biomolecules (molecules found in living organisms). With all of life's diversity, however, there is a ubiquitous presence of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. Carbon plays a particularly important role in these molecules by virtue of its unique chemical properties. In this tutorial you will learn why some biomolecules readily interact with water, and why some do not. We will examine how relatively simple subunits, known as monomers, can be linked together by chemical bonds to make much larger complex macromolecules, known as polymers. Life is composed of a diversity of biomolecules (molecules found in living organisms). With all of life's diversity, however, there is a ubiquitous presence of carbon, oxygen, and hydrogen. Carbon plays a particularly important role in these molecules by virtue of its unique chemical properties. In this tutorial you will learn why some biomolecules readily interact with water, and why some do not. We will examine how relatively simple subunits, known as monomers, can be linked together by chemical bonds to make much larger complex macromolecules, known as polymers.
By the end of this tutorial you should be able to: