| Themes > Science > Chemistry > Inorganic Chemistry > More Information about Chemical Bonding > More About Bonding > Hydrogen Bonds |
There is a special type of bond that involves a very special atom. When the slightly positive hydrogen atom in a polar molecule react with an very electronegative charge atom, an hydrogen bond forms. This type of bond is present in water. The slightly positive end of a H2O molecule, hydrogen, is attracted to the slightly negative end of a H2O molecule, oxygen, to form an intermolecular attraction called a hydrogen bond. A hydrogen bond is slightly stronger that dipole-dipole forces due to the fact hydrogen does not have any unshared electrons to interfere in the bonding. In water, hydrogen bonds accounts for the fact that water is a liquid between 0 degree Celsius and 100 degrees Celsius. A hydrogen bond one tenth the strength as an ionic or covalent bond. Hydrogen bonds are also present in the foundation for life, DNA. The nitrogen bases (adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine) are paired up due to hydrogen bonds. The presence of many hydrogen bonds provides a force strong enough to keep the double helix strand together, but yet allows a passageway for the splicing and replication of DNA. |
|
|