The structure of a water molecule
To better understand the hydrogen bonds, let's first look at a model of a water molecule (pictured below).
The water molecule is made of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom. They are sharing the electrons. However, since the oxygen atom has a greater mass than the hydrogen atom, it exerts a stronger pull on the electrons than the hydrogen does, so the electrons spend most of their ''time'' closer to the oxygen. As a result of that, oxygen becomes negatively charged, and hydrogen becomes positively charged. Since the water molecule has two opposite poles , it's called a polar molecule or a dipole.
Hydrogen bonds
Now, when we have many (DIPOLE!) water molecules next to each other, the (positively charged) hydrogen atoms from one water molecule are attracted by the (negaltively charged) oxygen molecules. In other words: there is a force of attraction between them.
THE FORCE OF ATTRACTION BETWEEN A POSITIVELY CHARGED HYDROGEN ATOM AND NEGATIVELY CHARGED OXYGEN ATOM (FROM ANOTHER MOLECULE!)IS AN EXAMPLE ON A HYDROGEN BOND. Please look at the image below to get a better understand how hydrogen bonds look like/work (the green lines/dots = hydrogen bonds :))
The hydrogen bond is called the hydrogen bond because it refers to the force of attraction of a hydrogen atom (which is positively charged because it is a part of a polar/dipole molecule, such as water). However, the negatively charged atom doesn't have to be an oxygen atom. Hydrogen bonds can also be formed between a hydrogen and fluorine or nitrogen.
Why did I include the post about hydrogen bonds in this blog(which is supposed to be about biology:))?
It seems like it doesn't make sense to learn chemistry when our main interest is biology, but the truth is that we must know some chemistry if we want to understand biology.
The next post that I plan to make is going to be about proteins. Understanding hydrogen bonds is crucial if we want to understand the structure of proteins.
To better understand the hydrogen bonds, let's first look at a model of a water molecule (pictured below).
Hydrogen bonds
Now, when we have many (DIPOLE!) water molecules next to each other, the (positively charged) hydrogen atoms from one water molecule are attracted by the (negaltively charged) oxygen molecules. In other words: there is a force of attraction between them.
THE FORCE OF ATTRACTION BETWEEN A POSITIVELY CHARGED HYDROGEN ATOM AND NEGATIVELY CHARGED OXYGEN ATOM (FROM ANOTHER MOLECULE!)IS AN EXAMPLE ON A HYDROGEN BOND. Please look at the image below to get a better understand how hydrogen bonds look like/work (the green lines/dots = hydrogen bonds :))
The hydrogen bond is called the hydrogen bond because it refers to the force of attraction of a hydrogen atom (which is positively charged because it is a part of a polar/dipole molecule, such as water). However, the negatively charged atom doesn't have to be an oxygen atom. Hydrogen bonds can also be formed between a hydrogen and fluorine or nitrogen.
Why did I include the post about hydrogen bonds in this blog(which is supposed to be about biology:))?
It seems like it doesn't make sense to learn chemistry when our main interest is biology, but the truth is that we must know some chemistry if we want to understand biology.
The next post that I plan to make is going to be about proteins. Understanding hydrogen bonds is crucial if we want to understand the structure of proteins.
No comments:
Post a Comment