Hydrogen bonding results in the association of molecules into different types of structures based on the number of bonds formed per molecule:
- Hydrogen Fluoride (HF): Due to the high electronegativity of fluorine, HF forms strong intermolecular hydrogen bonds. Each HF molecule typically forms two hydrogen bonds (one through H and one through F), resulting in the formation of long, zig-zag chains (...H−F...H−F...H−F...). In the context of 1D vs 3D structures, this is often referred to as a linear polymer .
- Water (H2O): Each water molecule can form up to four hydrogen bonds with neighbouring molecules. This leads to an extensive three-dimensional network rather than a linear chain .
- Ammonia (NH3): Like water, ammonia forms a three-dimensional network in its solid state due to hydrogen bonding.
- HCl and HBr: These molecules have very weak dipole-dipole interactions and negligible hydrogen bonding because the electronegativity of Cl and Br is not high enough to facilitate strong H-bonds like F, O, or N .
Note: This question appears to contain a typo in the options. In the original AIPMT 2000 paper, Option C was HF, which is the correct answer. Given the current options, none are scientifically accurate for a linear polymer structure, and NH3 (the Probable Answer) is a 3D network.