Hydrogen bonds

Definition

A type of attractive intermolecular force that occurs when a hydrogen atom bonded to a highly electronegative atom exists in the vicinity of another electronegative atom with a lone pair of electrons.

Analogy

Think of hydrogen bonds like the special handshakes between best friends. The handshake (hydrogen bond) only happens between these specific friends (hydrogen and an electronegative atom), and it's stronger than their regular handshakes with other people (other types of intermolecular forces).

Related terms

Electronegativity: The measure of the ability of an atom to attract shared electrons in a chemical bond.

Intermolecular Forces: The forces which mediate interaction between molecules, including forces of attraction or repulsion which act between molecules and other types of neighboring particles.

Polarity: A property of molecules that describes the distribution of electrical charge around them.