UniVerses
Bonding
an electron whizzes at amazing speeds
through her orbit intensely steering
heedless whether pace or place precedes
she’s focused on frenzied sphering.
a nucleophile nudges the skittle
and draws her with ionic charm
to an higher harmonic orbital
sparkling photons bruit the alarm.
asudden, another atom appears
whose loosest electron too was whisked
to fluorescent quantum spheres
both oblivious to the coming tryst.
these atoms’ boundaries revolt
by an unseen enzyme aligned
‘til a quantum mechanical jolt
the electron pairs entwined
and now their orbit spans two suns
thus molecules are born from unions.
Atoms bond with one another in several ways. Covalent bonds are those in which two or more atoms share electrons, which hold the atoms together in turn.
Covalent bonds link many of the molecules necessary for life, such as sugars, proteins and DNA. The making and breaking of these covalent bonds is the work of enzymes. Some enzymes break up molecules into pieces. Others assemble the pieces to make larger molecules.
The molecules are the nouns that make up living cells, but the essence of life is the interactions between these molecules. The transient connections of hydrogen bonds, ionic interactions and Van der Waals forces choreograph the dynamics that make the dance of life.
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Text Copyright 2009-2010 Robert Parker Lenk. All rights reserved.
