Can Ammonia Support Life - Essay Example

Hydrogen bonding is a type of force that forms a unique type of dipole-dipole attraction which occurs when a hydrogen atom bonded to a strongly electronegative atom exists in the vicinity of another electronegative atom with a lone pair of electrons. The BreakdownWater is an example of hydrogen bonding. Each water molecule can potentially form four hydrogen bonds with the surrounding water molecules. There are exactly the right numbers of + hydrogens and lone pairs so that every one of them can be involved in hydrogen bonding ( Fox, Marye, and James Whitesell, 95).

In the case of ammonia, the amount of hydrogen bonding is limited by the fact that each nitrogen only has one lone pair. In a group of ammonia molecules, there aren't enough lone pairs to go around to bond with all the hydrogens available. This is why the boiling point of water is higher than that of ammonia. All known terrestrial life requires water as a solvent. This has led to speculations about whether water is the only liquid capable of maintaining life. The idea that an extraterrestrial life form might be based on another solvent has gained traction over the years.

Could life exist on a planet dominated by oceans, lakes, and rivers of ammonia? Ammonia has some problems as a basis for life. The hydrogen bonds between ammonia molecules are weaker than those in water; this makes ammonia heat of vaporization less than that of water by half. The surface tension of ammonia reduces to a third of the water. Ammonia has a lot of the same molecular properties as water which are essential for life on earth. I propose that life may evolve in an ammoniated medium the same way life on Earth grew in a hydrated one.