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Bonding

Hydrogen bonding

  • 3 things to know
  • Components 1 and 2

Overview

Hydrogen bond, why ice is less dense than liquid water and biological consequence of ice being less dense than water.

What you need to know

Answer each one before you reveal it.

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Key term

Ethanol boils at 78 °C but propane, of similar relative molecular mass, boils at −42 °C. Explain the difference.

Key term

Why is hydrogen bonding restricted to compounds of nitrogen, oxygen and fluorine?

Key term

Why is the boiling temperature of water so much higher than the trend from the other Group 6 hydrides would suggest?

Questions from this subtopic

Each one with the model answer underneath.

  1. 1

    Define a hydrogen bond.

    Model answer

    A hydrogen bond is the attraction between a hydrogen atom carrying a large partial positive charge because it is bonded to nitrogen, oxygen or fluorine, and a lone pair on the nitrogen, oxygen or fluorine atom of a neighbouring molecule.

  2. 2

    State the conditions that must be met for a hydrogen bond to form.

    Model answer

    A hydrogen atom must be bonded directly to nitrogen, oxygen or fluorine, and there must be a nitrogen, oxygen or fluorine atom nearby carrying a lone pair to accept it.

  3. 3

    Why is hydrogen bonding restricted to compounds of nitrogen, oxygen and fluorine?

    Model answer

    Only these three are electronegative enough to leave the hydrogen with a large enough partial charge, and only they are small enough for the atoms to approach closely.

  4. 4

    How strong is a typical hydrogen bond?

    Model answer

    A hydrogen bond is worth roughly 5 to 40 kJ mol⁻¹, about a tenth of a covalent bond but several times stronger than a van der Waals attraction.

  5. 5

    Describe the geometry of a hydrogen bond.

    Model answer

    The donor atom, the hydrogen and the acceptor atom lie in a straight line, with the bond formed along the direction in which the lone pair points.

  6. 6

    Why is the boiling temperature of water so much higher than the trend from the other Group 6 hydrides would suggest?

    Model answer

    Extensive hydrogen bonding between water molecules must be overcome in addition to the van der Waals forces, and hydrogen sulfide and the heavier hydrides cannot form hydrogen bonds at all.

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