Hydrogen Bonding in Water 

Water is the most important component to lead life. Generally, the term “water potential” is used for expressing the water status of the plant. Both living and non-living beings are closely related to water. Just like humans and plants, water is also a major part of the concept of hydrogen bonding. Belonging from the family of hydrogen, hydrogen bonding is a crucial process that leads to the formation of hydrogen bonds. Experts believe that hydrogen bonding is relatively stronger; it gives rise to a smaller number of interaction partners. For example, in the case of water molecules, chemically represented as (H2O), hydrogen is bonded covalently to the electronegative oxygen atom. 

Today, in the topic hydrogen bonding in water, we will be discussing the concept of hydrogen bonding, the significance of water, and hydrogen bonding in water importance. 

What is Hydrogen Bonding? 

Hydrogen bonding is the process to form hydrogen bonds. These are a special and unique class of attractive intermolecular forces that generally takes place because of dipole-dipole interaction. This interaction occurs between the hydrogen atom and some other highly electronegative atom. 

In the molecule where the hydrogen atom is closely connected to the highly electronegative atom, the shared piece of an electron is attracted. As a result, the molecule’s end becomes slightly negative, whereas the other end becomes positive. Both the ends attract one another, which leads to the formation of a weak bond between them. This bond is referred to as the hydrogen bond. 

What is Water? 

Water is the source of life on Earth. Most of the water is found as natural resources. However, it is also found in polar ice caps, which makes it unfit for use. Only a small percentage of water is available readily for our use. This makes it an extremely important resource on Earth. The chemical formula for water is H2O. Herein, two molecules of hydrogen are bonded with one molecule of oxygen.

Properties of Water 

Water is one of the most important components present on Earth. About 60% of the human body is composed of water. Even our Earth looks blue, which means it is mostly covered with water. It dissolves all the major solutes in it. Water is used for almost all daily activities, including drinking, washing, bathing, cooking, and so on. 

Physical Properties of Water 

Some of the main physical properties of water are:

• It is a colourless fluid.

• It is tasteless.

• It works as an excellent solvent and dissolves all the major solutes. 

• It has high melting and boiling points. 

• It aids in the transportation of ions. 

• It has a high dipole moment. 

• The thermal conductivity of water is very high. 

• It also possesses high latent evaporation. 

• It can regulate body temperature. 

• It has high surface tension. 

Chemical Properties of Water 

The main chemical characteristics of water are: 

• Redox Reactions 

Redox reactions are reactions that involve simultaneous oxidation and reduction. 

Water is an excellent source of hydrogen molecules. 

For instance, 

2H2O (l) + 2Na (s) —–> 2NaOH (aq.)  

Water is also a great agent in the process of photosynthesis. 

• Amphoteric Nature 

Water is amphoteric. This means that it can act as a base as well as an acid. 

• Hydrolysis Reaction 

Water can dissolve almost all ionic compounds in them. This means that many covalent and ionic compounds can be dissolved easily in water. 

Hydrogen Bonding in Water 

The highly electronegative oxygen atom gets connected with the hydrogen atom in a water molecule. The shared pairs of electrons are closely attracted to the atoms of oxygen which is why the molecule’s end becomes negative, whereas the hydrogen atoms appear to be positive. 

Because of the hydrogen bonding, a single hydrogen atom is closely linked to two electronegative atoms at the same time. Out of the two, one is connected to the covalent bond, whereas; another is by the hydrogen bond. Here are two major conditions of hydrogen bonding – 

• The size of the electronegative atom should be small. The lesser the size of electronegative atoms will be, the more the electrostatic attraction will be. 

• Each molecule should have a highly electronegative atom connected to the hydrogen atom. The more the electronegativity will be, the higher the molecule’s polarisation. 

• Because of the hydrogen bonding, the Carboxylic acid molecules appear dimmer. The cell groups of all such compounds are twice in size. 

Conclusion 

Water is one of the most important natural resources available on Earth. It is as vital as oxygen. It gives life to plants, animals, and many other organisms present on the surface of Earth. It also occupies the largest share of Earth. All the physical and chemical properties of water constitute a lot of its nature of being with the heavy solvent that can dissolve almost all the solutes of the world. 

Just like living beings, water is also a significant part of the concept of hydrogen bonding. Belonging from the family of hydrogen, hydrogen bonding is a crucial process that leads to the formation of hydrogen bonds. In the end, we discussed hydrogen bonding in water importance and how it occurs and made a simple illustration for ease of understanding.