Why is hydrogen important to life?

Question

Luna Cruz · Accepted Answer

Water

Water is composed of two hydrogen (H) and one oxygen (O) atom, which combine to form H2O, or water. Hydrogen is a component of the molecular structure of water. Water is necessary for all life. I'm not sure what other ways hydrogen is significant.

Piper Anderson · Answer

It makes up many molecules essential to life.

A prime example of why hydrogen is so important to life is water. Everybody is familiar with this compound, and it is essential to life, as it helps regulate body processes and also keeps us hydrated. Water has a chemical formula of #H_2O#, and therefore hydrogen is needed to synthesise the compound. On the other hand, all organic compound that life needs has hydrogen in it. Some examples include #ATP#, #NADPH#, and the #"DNA"# bases just to name a few. Without hydrogen, these compounds wouldn't exist, and we would therefore not live without it. I don't think pure hydrogen #(H_2)# is essential to life, but if we combine other elements with hydrogen, we get compounds that are required for us to be able to stay alive. Hydrogen is crucial for living things because of this.

Cooper Alexander · Answer

undefined Hydrogen is a crucial component of water and organic molecules, essential for life's biochemical processes. It is involved in energy transfer and structural components of biological molecules.