Biochemistry : Molecular Bonds and Forces

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for Biochemistry

varsity tutors app store varsity tutors android store

Example Questions

Example Question #1 : Hydrogen Bonds

What is the maximum number of hydrogen bonds that one water molecule can form?

Possible Answers:

Three

One

Four

Two

Correct answer:

Four

Explanation:

Hydrogen can form hydrogen bonds with nitrogen, oxygen, and fluorine. A water molecule consists of an oxygen atom bonded to two hydrogen atoms. Each hydrogen atom can form a hydrogen bond with a nitrogen, fluorine, or oxygen atom. Also, the oxygen, which has two lone pairs of electrons, can form two hydrogen bonds with hydrogen atoms. This sums to four hydrogen bonds per water molecule.

Example Question #11 : Molecular Bonds And Forces

Which molecule will not form hydrogen bonds?

Possible Answers:

Correct answer:

Explanation:

Only nitrogen, oxygen, and fluorine can form hydrogen bonds since these three elements are very electronegative. Thus, their partial negative charge (and the presence of a lone pair of electrons) attracts a partially positive hydrogen atom. Carbon, on the other hand, is not very electronegative and thus cannot form hydrogen bonds.

Example Question #12 : Molecular Bonds And Forces

How does the strength of hydrogen bonds compare with the strength of ionic bonds?

Possible Answers:

It depends on the temperature.

Hydrogen bonds are weaker than ionic bonds.

Hydrogen bonds are just as strong as ionic bonds.

Hydrogen bonds are stronger than ionic bonds.

Correct answer:

Hydrogen bonds are weaker than ionic bonds.

Explanation:

Bond strengths are measured in kilojoules/mole. Hydrogen bonds can have a strength of . Ionic bonds can have a strength of . This makes hydrogen bonds much weaker than ionic bonds.

Example Question #13 : Molecular Bonds And Forces

A: adenine

U: uracil

C: cytosine

G: guanine

T: thymine

Which of the following pairs of DNA bases would require the most energy to break?

Possible Answers:

A-U

G-C

C-T

T-A

G-A

Correct answer:

G-C

Explanation:

Uracil is not a base in DNA, so A-U can be ruled out as an answer. Moreover, C-G and A-T are the correct base pairs, so the other combinations can be ruled out as well. C-G requires more energy to break because there are three hydrogen bonds between these bases, while A-T has only two hydrogen bonds holding them together.

Example Question #14 : Molecular Bonds And Forces

What is a chiral center?

Possible Answers:

An atom with substituents organized such that the molecule cannot be superimposed on its mirror image.

An atom whose configuration is is rigid with no freedom of rotation.

An atom with multiple isomers.

An atom with only one double bond, but other constituents are unique.

An atom that has substituents which are unique.

Correct answer:

An atom with substituents organized such that the molecule cannot be superimposed on its mirror image.

Explanation:

The substituents of a chiral center are arranged in a specific manner that cannot be superimposed on its mirror image. An example is a carbon atom with four unique substituent groups.

Example Question #15 : Molecular Bonds And Forces

Why is water conducive to hydrogen bond formation?

Possible Answers:

Water is an electric dipole.

Water is a polar solvent.

All other answers are correct.

Oxygen is electronegative.

The two hydrogen atoms are covalently bonded.

Correct answer:

All other answers are correct.

Explanation:

Oxygen is more electronegative than hydrogen. This results in the electrons to spend more time with the oxygen atom making it negatively chared and the hydrogen atoms to be positively charged. The charged water molecule is then able to form hydrogen bonds with polar molecules. 

Example Question #1 : Hydrophobic Interactions

Which amino acid would you expect to find in the core of a protein that is in a solution of water? 

Possible Answers:

Tryptophan

Serine

Threonine

Arginine

Correct answer:

Tryptophan

Explanation:

Proteins will behave similarly to phospholipids in water; the polar groups will form favorable interactions on the surface with water, while the hydrophobic groups will be in the core and away from the water molecules. Usually, amino acids with non-polar residues will be found in the core of proteins. Tryptophan has a nonpolar side chain, and will thus be found in the core of a protein that is in a aqueous environment. 

Example Question #2 : Hydrophobic Interactions

Which of the following explains why nonpolar molecules such as lipids spontaneously aggregate in water?

Possible Answers:

Covalent bonding; lipid molecules form strong covalent bonds with each other that they cannot form with water

Entropy; water molecules acquire more degrees of freedom as a result of nonpolar molecules forming one large aggregate from many smaller ones

Hydrogen bonding; lipid molecules have stronger interactions with each other through hydrogen bonding than they do with water

Enthalpy; lipid molecules absorb a tremendous amount of heat when they come to associate with each other rather than with water

Ionic bonding; lipid molecules form strong ionic bonds with each other that they cannot form with water 

Correct answer:

Entropy; water molecules acquire more degrees of freedom as a result of nonpolar molecules forming one large aggregate from many smaller ones

Explanation:

In aqueous solutions, lipid molecules are surrounded by a lattice-like ring of water molecules known as a clathrate shell. This locks up previously free water molecules in this state, which is not entropically favored. Though it is unavoidable that some water molecules will have to be robbed of some of their freedom of motion by forming at least one clathrate shell, the ideal scenario thermodynamically is the one in which the fewest water molecules are stuck in the shell as possible. As a result, lipid bubbles in aqueous solutions tend to go from many to one, as this results in the  clathrate shell with the fewest number of water molecules. In the process, many smaller clathrate shells are broken, and many water molecules are freed, thus increasing the entropy of the system. 

Example Question #3 : Hydrophobic Interactions

Which of the following is false about hydrophobic effects?

Possible Answers:

Cell membranes are held together in part by hydrophobic effects.

They can occur in a non-aqueous environment.

Hydrophobic groups are not precisely bonded to each other, but rather are held together because of a repulsion from water.

They function because hydrophobic groups clump together, so they do not break the hydrogen bonds in the surrounding water.

Generally, it is only nonpolar substances which exhibit hydrophobic effects.

Correct answer:

They can occur in a non-aqueous environment.

Explanation:

Hydrophobic effects require water to occur. The reason that hydrophobic groups tend to group together is that by doing so, the network of water molecules around them stays intact. There are no other special forces at play between hydrophobic groups. It is precisely the non-polar nature of hydrophobic groups that gives them their character; water molecules are polar. Cell membranes have a phospholipid bilayer with internal hydrophobic regions (the lipid tails), holding together the membrane.

Example Question #4 : Hydrophobic Interactions

Which of the following statements explains the overall change in entropy when a small amount of nonpolar solute is immersed in water?

Possible Answers:

Entropy decreases because the water must become more ordered in a hydrogen-bond network around the nonpolar molecules.

Entropy increases because water molecules exclude the nonpolar solute in order to interact with each other and regain a higher state of disorder.

Entropy remains the same because there is no significant interaction between the water molecules and the nonpolar solvent.

Entropy decreases because the nonpolar solute has an affinity for itself and aggregates together.

Correct answer:

Entropy increases because water molecules exclude the nonpolar solute in order to interact with each other and regain a higher state of disorder.

Explanation:

This is called the hydrophobic effect. Although initially the water molecules arrange themselves in clathrates and become more ordered, their exclusion of the hydrophobic/nonpolar solute is entropically driven and energetically favorable.

Learning Tools by Varsity Tutors