Answer
Hydrogen bonds are attractions between molecules that have partially positive areas (where the hydrogens are located) and molecules that have partially negative areas. Hydrogen bonds are important in the body because some large biological molecules, such as proteins and DNA, have numerous hydrogen bonds that help maintain and stabilize their structures (Page 35).
Work Step by Step
Hydrogen bonds are a type of intermolecular bond, meaning they occur between different molecules rather than between the atoms within the molecule. Hydrogen bonds can occur any time there is a hydrogen atom bonded to fluorine, oxygen, or nitrogen. Because the hydrogen atoms attract electrons much less than fluorine, oxygen, or nitrogen, the molecule will have a partially negative charge near the fluorine, oxygen, or nitrogen atoms and a partially positive charge near the hydrogen atoms. The partially positive parts of the molecule are attracted to the partially negative parts of other molecules, and this attraction between molecules is called hydrogen bonding.
