Bonds are the chemical basis of life. Whether or not bonds form between two elements and, which type of bond forms are hugely influential in how these atoms interact with one another. This student did a great job of highlighting the three major types of bonds: ionic, covalent and hydrogen. While each of these bonds represent an interaction between two elements and/or in some cases, interactions between multiple elements, there are major differences between what these bonds represent functionally as well as how strong or weak they hold under pressure. For example, the student mentioned hydrogen bonds which are relatively weak in comparison with the three other types of bonds (Tortora & Derrickson, 2017). However, as the student stated, these bonds are very important in the characteristics of water. Water must have weak bonds because it constantly needs to break apart and reorganize based on the external environment. If water did not have these properties, then it would not be able to sustain life. Humans could not drink it or even use it to break down food in the digestive process. Even more simply, if water did not have its characteristic hydrogen bonds, it would not collect into rivers, lakes and oceans which are also essential to life.
Not every type of bond is weak such as hydrogen bonds. Instead, bonds such as covalent bonds actually share electrodes that link them together. In this case, the bond is much more stable than a hydrogen bond because it is not meant to break apart and become reorganized easily. This benefits certain situations in which a strong bond is needed. Similarly, ionic bonds allow elements to give electrons to one another, as is the case in sodium and chlorine. Trading electrons back and forth allow elements to stabilize as needed in a given situation (Tortora & Derrickson, 2017). What is most clear in this student’s post is that one type of bond offers very different pros and cons than another and, these benefits are situation dependant.
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- Tortora, G.J. & Derrickson, B. (2017). Principles of Anatomy and Physiology: 15th Edition, Wiley.
