Page 40 - Miracles Within the Molecule

HArun yahya

Some Atoms Are Attached by Hydrogen Bonds
If a hydro gen atom is used in com mon by two atoms, this bond is
known as a hydro gen bond. The two atoms in ques tion have to be neg -
a tive ly charged for this to hap pen. Oxygen and nitro gen atoms are the
best exam ple of this. A hydro gen bond occurs when two elec tro neg a tive
atoms, such as nitro gen and oxy gen, inter act with the same hydro gen
atom. Hydrogen can attach to oxy gen and nitro gen atoms by means of
a cova lent bond. The elec trons in these atoms are clos er to the oxy gen
and nitro gen atoms com pared to the hydro gen atom. The rea son for this
is that these other atoms have more neu trons and pro tons and there fore,
a great er atom ic weight and exert a more pow er ful grav i ta tion al attrac -
tion. Therefore, the elec trons of the hydro gen atom and the other atom
to which it will bind move away from the hydro gen atom. With neg a -
tive ly charged elec trons mov ing away, the hydro gen atom's charge
becomes pos i tive, keep ing it sta ble between the two larg er, neg a tive ly
charged atoms. In this way the hydro gen atom mov ing between the two
atoms becomes such a bond, and a hydro gen bond between the two
atoms is estab lished.
Hydrogen bonds are weak, mean ing that a low level of ener gy is
suf fi cient to break the bond. Weak bonds play a most impor tant role in
the for ma tion of larg er organ ic mol e cu les, because these bonds are elas -
tic. They impart flex i bil i ty to the sub stan ces they give rise to. During this
elas tic i ty, how e ver, no rup ture takes place between any of the bonds
form ing the mol e cule.
This dis tin guish ing fea ture of hydro gen bonds is of great impor -
tance for many mol e cu les on Earth. The clear est exam ple is the DNA
mol e cule: The many mirac u lous proc ess es it per forms in the body are to
a large extent results of the hydro gen bonds the mol e cule pos sess es. In
due course, you shall see this in great er detail, as well as other mol e cu -
les that acquire dis tin guish ing fea tures by means of their hydro gen
bonds.
In order for life to emerge, there are more com bi na tions of atoms
than any one can pos si bly guess. There are more atoms in a vis i ble peri -

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