Not a homework question, but in DNA supposedly the A-T (double bond) and G-C (triple bond) base pairs have the same bond length. My question is why or how is this possible since i was always told "Double bonds are longer and stronger than triple bonds"?
because of how the bases are shaped. There are three lone pairs on guanine and cytocine to form hydrogen bonds, but only two on adenine and thymine.
The bonds between A and T, G and C are hydrogen bonds, not covalent bonds, so they are not single, double, or triple in nature. For our purposes, hydrogen bonds are of equal strength and length. A and T just happen to form two hydrogen bonds with one another, while G and C form three hydrogen bonds with one another. This makes the overall G-C connection stronger than an A-T connection because there are more hydrogen bonds holding them together, and it takes more energy to break three hydrogen bonds than two.
Not a homework question, but in DNA supposedly the A-T (double bond) and G-C (triple bond)...