Final answer:
Water's high heat of vaporization benefits living organisms by facilitating effective body temperature regulation through evaporative cooling, such as sweating in humans and panting in animals.
Step-by-step explanation:
The benefit of water's high heat of vaporization is that it allows animals, including humans, to regulate body temperature effectively through processes such as sweating and panting. When water evaporates from a surface, it absorbs a significant amount of heat due to its high heat of vaporization, thereby cooling the surface. This property is crucial for thermoregulation in living organisms and is integral in preventing overheating, which could lead to cellular damage or death.
During the process of evaporative cooling, the water molecules that possess higher kinetic energy evaporate first, which leads to a reduction in the average kinetic energy of the remaining molecules and subsequently lowers the temperature of the liquid or surface. This is why when humans sweat, the evaporation of sweat from the skin surface removes heat from the body, helping to maintain a stable internal temperature. Similarly, animals that pant increase the evaporation of water from the surfaces within their mouths and respiratory tracts, leading to a cooling effect.