Water and the Hydrophobic Effect - An Introduction to Biological Membranes - page 40

FIGURE 3.10 J.D. van der Waal (1837 e 1923) [15] .

TABLE 3.2 Bond Energies Expressed as Dissociation Energies (kcal) for
Several Types of Bonds.

Bond Energies

Bond Type Dissociation Energy (kcal)

Covalent 400

Hydrogen bonds 12 16

e

Permanent dipole dipole 0.5 2

e e

Van der Waal-London
(induced dipole

1

<

dipole)

e

The relative strengths of several types of bonds are listed in Table 3.2 . From this table it is
obvious that covalent bonds are more than an order of magnitude stronger than hydrogen
bonds and hydrogen bonds are more than an order of magnitude stronger than van der
Waals-London forces.

SUMMARY

Water is the most important biochemical in life and is now considered to be a fingerprint of
life. Despite its apparent simplicity, water houses a plethora of subtle, but extraordinary