Perming breaks down what bonds in the hair?

The process of perming hair is designed to create curls or waves by altering the hair's structure. This alteration involves breaking down specific bonds within the hair shaft. In particular, perming targets sulfide bonds, also known as disulfide bonds, which are responsible for the hair's strength and shape.

Disulfide bonds are formed between the sulfur atoms in the amino acids cysteine, which are a key component of the hair's protein structure, keratin. By breaking these bonds through a chemical reaction usually involving thioglycolic acid or its derivatives, the hair can be reshaped. After this change, a neutralizer is applied to reform these bonds in a new structure, effectively "locking in" the curls or waves that have been created.

In addition to disulfide bonds, hydrogen bonds do also play a role in the overall structure and resilience of the hair, but they are not specifically broken in the same way during the perming process. Instead, they are temporary and can be influenced by the presence of moisture (for example, they can be broken and reformed with changes in humidity).

The other choices either refer to bonds that are not broken during the perming process or do not accurately describe the chemical reactions involved. Thus