Strongest interactions

[406501249]

Hi,

Between ion-ion interactions and hydrogen bonding, ion-ion bonds are stronger, and hydrogen bonding is the second strongest bond correct? It gets confusing at times because I've heard that they're both very strong.

- Kaia H

[Zipporah_1J]

Yes, you are correct; ion-ion bonds are stronger than H-H bonds. The confusion stems from the fact that hydrogen bonds are INTERmolecular while ionic bonds are INTRAmolecular. "inter"molecular refers to bonds made between two separate molecules while "intra" molecular refers to bonds within the molecule. The bonds of that occur within the molecule are much stronger, making ion-ion the strongest bond.