I would hesitate to call it a requirement though because hydrogen bonding can take place at any temperature, but is just rarer when the temperature increases. As you say, then, when temperature decreases, more hydrogen bonds are formed in general. Thus, you can rationalize the transition from liquid water to ice in this way by considering that in ice you come quite close to the number of 4.0 hydrogen bonds per water.

In water, this number comes out to be around 3.4 hydrogen bonds, where it could have a maximum of 4.0. The most ubiquitous, and perhaps simplest, example of a hydrogen bond is found between water molecules. (sorry for the bad explanation) ( 10 votes) Show more. In contrast, hydrogen is able to lose or gain an electron, and, therefore, does not need electrons as much as oxygen, thus making it less electronegative.

One indicator of the degree to which hydrogen bonds stay formed is the average number of hydrogen bonds over time per water. A hydrogen bond is an attraction between two atoms that already participate in other chemical bonds. Due to its being on the right-side of the table and its necessity of only two electrons, it would really want electrons. They are almost always immediately formed again (in liquid), but the more frequently they are broken, the less hydrogen bonding there will be on average.

This is because, as you point out, hydrogen bonds are weak enough to be broken by collisions due to thermal motions (translation and rotation). Hydrogen bonds are strong intermolecular forces that exist between the covalently bonded hydrogen atom of one molecule and the lone pair of electrons on an. Thus, on average the liquid/solid/molecule will be more stable. A more accurate statement would be that as the temperature decreases, the average lifetime of a hydrogen bond increases.