The Biology Project: Biochemistry

Chemistry Tutorial

Problem 11: Weak interactions to strong interactions

The binding between a specific antibody and a virus is very tight. If the forces that allow interactions between molecules are said to be weak, how can electrostatic attractions, hydrogen bonds, van der Waals bonds and hydrophobic attractions lead to a very strong interaction?

D. The electrostatic attractions become very strong once water is excluded from the bound molecules
Incorrect.
True, but the weak forces between an antibody and antigen do not exclude water. Thus, this explanation is incorrect.

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