The hydrogen bond is substantially longer and therefore weaker than the NH bonds in NH₃. So it is misleading to speak of it as part of an NH₄ group as if the four bonds were similar. Moreover, the length of the two OH bonds are almost identical; the one that is hydrogen bonded to the N is only 2% longer than the other. Evidently the water is almost unaffected by the ammonia so there is little covalence in the bond, as is implied by the misnomer NH₄OH. The nomenclature is misleading because it implies a greater integrity to the NH₄ than actually exists and a relation between the OH group and the rest of the molecule that resembles the OH in alcohols or metal hydroxides. I hesitate to declare that there is no NH₄ in ammonia hydrate because in the rare occasions when the hydrate dissociates, the NH₄ group collapses to a symmetric NH₄⁺ suggesting that there was some integrity to the original NH₄ despite the anomaly in one of its bonds. However, NH₄OH is a misleading nomenclature which should not be used. The name “ammonium hydroxide” is not merely misleading but is actually false since it asserts the existence of the ammonium ion in the hydrate for which there is no evidence whatever. When a formula for the hydrate is needed, the form HOH•NH₃ describes the molecule as correctly as the symbolism allows.

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